(Photo: Juan Giraudo/Unsplash)
“To the Lord belongs the praise forever. Amen, yes, amen.” – Psalms 89:53 (AFR83)
I talk to the economist Dawie Roodt. Dawie is a well-known businessman who heads a very large company that specializes in financial services. He is extremely competent, well-read, and energetic. His enthusiasm is infectious and the way he approaches life impressive.
Not that anything just fell into Dawie’s lap. It took hard work and he is still at it. He makes an effort to be informed so that he can give potential investors the best possible advice. In this regard, he reads thousands of articles every year.
In the recent past, Dawie climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. He speaks with compassion of his experience and the challenges that have been presented to him. This is just one of many adventures with which he keeps himself busy.
I ask him about his philosophy of life. It’s simple, but groundbreaking. It’s different from the way most of us, probably myself included, live.
Dawie says he lives with a “yes” to life. When life invites him to travel together and take on the next adventure, he says “yes” right away.
Too many people say no to life. Reservations, suspicion, fears, inferiority, lies you’ve been told, broken hearts and lives and sad experiences of the past cause you to walk into life with folded arms.
That life is full of adventure and offers new opportunities and challenges, no one can deny. We look at the people on TV who have accepted this invitation and admire them for their courage, perseverance and energy. Cozy at home in our armchairs, we watch other people embrace life and its fullness. We remain spectators, but are not participants.
We sit on the pavilions and clap our hands while other people play the game of life. Meanwhile, life, and the adventure associated with it, passes us by.
Dawie Roodt says he lives with a “yes” to life. It’s nothing less than Gospel. Living “yes” is the result of the atoning work that Jesus accomplished for us on the cross of Calvary.
Can’t we get rid of all the fears and reservations that negatively affect our lives?
Can’t we open our arms to each other and embrace the future?
Carpe diem, seize the day, seize life.
Say “yes” to life today.
- ToekomsVenster is a daily message to equip individual believers with practical faith skills. Small group accompaniments, DVDs and functional sermon sketches are available from Drienie ([email protected]) or visit www.toekomsvenster.co.za
