Power of One Podcast with Tony Medlin - Doing the right thing

Doing the right thing is not always easy, but is important. This podcast includes a story that will illustrate the fruit of doing the right thing. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to the Power of One podcast with Tony Medlin. Well, I've taken a couple of weeks off, and it is really good to be back with you. I am excited about our topic today, as I want us to consider doing the right thing. Now that sounds like something good to say, but doing the right thing is not always so easy. There's a verse that I use as one of my life verses. It is Matthew 6.33. It says, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Now I've often used this in the business world also, even for secular folks, not coming at it from a spiritual point of view. I have paraphrased this way Do the right thing, and the bottom line will always work out. I'd like to share with you today something that I ran across because a friend of mine sent it to me. It's called the Washboard Chronicles. I mentioned that because I want to make sure I give credit. I don't know a lot about the washboard chronicles. It was a reel that I saw. But if they are like the life lesson that is taught in the one that I heard, they all have to be pretty cool. And in this particular washboard chronicle, the story was told of a chief executive officer, a CEO that was planning on retiring in a year or two. And he wanted to have the opportunity to pick his own successor, basically. It was his company. He had put his life's blood work into this company. And he wanted to make sure that there was the right leadership even after he retired. So in what sounds like a parable, he brings together 12 of his leaders in the company. He tells them of his plan to retire in a year or two, and he shares with them that he wanted to pick from this group who could potentially be his successor as CEO. Now it was an interesting test that he had. And in a year, we're going to come back together and you're going to bring me your results. You're going to show me your plant. You're going to show me your flower. And the one that impresses me the most, the person who grew that, is the one that I will want to consider is my successor as CEO. Now, the person of whom we are emphasizing in this story is a man named Jim. He was one of the 12. And he was excited about this project because he and his family had somewhat of a green thumb. And he felt like he could do this project very well. He knew about farming, that was in his background. He knew about greenhouses, that was in his background. And he decided, I'm going to be able to do this very well. So he went home and he planted the seeds, took care of them, did whatever he needed to do with water, nutrition, proper sunlight, all of those things that you would think important about growing seeds. He waited a few weeks, nothing happened. He waited a few weeks more, doing all of the right things, and nothing happened. And yet he continued to work, he continued to baby them. He continued to talk to them. I am not a person with a green thumb. So I don't know what all he did, but he did all of the right things. And nothing happened. Well, a few months passed, still nothing happened. He did everything he could possibly think of with these seeds, but nothing happened. Well, a year passed, and he had an empty pot just full of dirt and seeds that never grew. It was time to go back and bring the results of his labor to the CEO, who was now just about ready to retire. Every person that was part of the 12, except for Jim, was very excited. And they came into the room that day with beautiful flowers, beautiful plants, beautiful fruit of their labor. And there was Jim. He had the pot full of dirt. But even though it was just a pot full of dirt, he brought in what he had. And so the CEO went around the room, and the CEO was nodding his head as he looked at each flower, each product of the seeds that he had given the twelve a year ago. And then he came to Jim's pot, a pot full of dirt, and he said, Whose pot is this? And Jim raised his hand and he said, Sir, I'm going to have to confess that is my pot. I'm going to tell you that I tried everything I knew to try. I worked as hard as I could possibly work. I did everything that I could do. And I just could not get the seeds to grow. But this pot full of dirt is in reality the fruit of my labor. The CEO looked over the whole group and he said, more than a year ago, when I realized that it was coming time for me to retire, and I wanted to find the right person to take over my position as CEO. I thought about qualifications and I thought about competency and I thought about all of the things that would be important to succeeding in this job. And most of you have those things. But I need to tell you that a year ago, I gave you all dead seeds. Nothing was ever going to grow from those seeds. And 11 of you cheated. 11 of you went and got something that looked beautiful. And one of you had the integrity, had the honesty to do the right thing. And even though Jim came in here with just a pot filled with dirt, it was his pot filled with dirt. And he was filled with integrity. And he said, Jim, you are the kind of person that I want to entrust my company to. And that's what I hope you received from this story today. Let me remind you again, Matthew 6.33, seek ye first the kingdom of God and all his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. A lot of people think about riches when they think about that verse. But in the chapter, what it's really talking about are the necessities of life, the things that are important. And can we really be satisfied? God's going to provide what we need, of that we can be sure. If we are seeking Him first and His righteousness. But at the end of the day, in whatever walk of life we may be participating, what we can be assured of is that if we walk with integrity and if we walk in the journey of honesty, the bottom line will take care of itself. Now, I would like to ask you today, how are you doing on your journey? How are you doing with your health? How are you doing with your vocation? How are you doing with your relationships? Are you just muddling away through life? Or are you aggressively and intentionally setting goals? At the end of the day, what we all want to accomplish is making a difference in our time on this earth. And I hate to admit that there have been many years in my journey that I've wasted time. But you know what? I cannot do anything about the past. I can only do something about this day and traveling this journey to the best of my ability right now. One of the things that is important for me as I continue my journey, both as pastor of Grace Global Methodist Church here in Seneca, South Carolina, and in this business called Power of One, is I want to use my life coaching certification to help people, particularly people who are intent upon doing the right thing. And my friends, that's the foundation of being able to make a difference. I would like to say to you today, it would be my honor to travel the journey with you, whatever your goals are, whatever your visions are, whatever your dreams are of making a difference for somebody as you walk your journey, those goals can be accomplished. My website is Powerofon Spiritual Renewal.com. My email address is anthonymedlin26 at Outlook.com. And the phone number to Power of One is 864-430-4498. Now, over the first few weeks of this podcast, I've talked to you about many different things that Power of One can offer. What I want to share with you today is that I have been led to do some very basic life coaching. So whatever uh whatever part of life you come from, whatever direction your journey is taking, I would like for us to be able to talk about it together and for me to be available for you. Individual sessions, very affordable, and I would be honored for you to contact me. In the meantime, enjoy, live, produce this day. Make a difference in someone's life and do the right thing. Once again, my website is power of one spiritual renewal.com. My email address is anthonybedlin26 at outlook.com. And the phone number to Power of One is 864-430-4498. I would be honored for us to schedule a session together today. Be in touch. God bless everyone, and we'll see you right back here next week on the Power of One podcast with Tony Medlin.