My Facebook page asked me to complete my profile by asking the name of my employer. When I wrote “Benton Ministries,” the Facebook cop replied that it was the wrong answer! How disturbing is that?

I’ve been re-reading One Big Thing by Phil Cooke—Discovering What You Were Born to Do, (Thomas Nelson 2012). I recommend this no matter what your age. Amazon has some great prices on this book, new or used. Cooke is a high profile Hollywood producer who happens to be a serious Jesus Follower.
He references Jim Collin’s classic Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t. Collins’ analogy is that a good organization is like a bus.
“The CEO is the bus driver and provides the vision for where the bus needs to go. But he also has to get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and then get the right people into the right seats.
“The heart of the One Big Thing concept is finding the right seat on the bus.” (p 78—One Big Thing)
Author and Psychiatrist M. Scott Peck (Road Less Traveled) said,

“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time.
Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”

You belong on the bus! Until you value yourself, there will always be a question in your mind.
Today’s Bible reading features Jabez.
“He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would wonderfully bless me and help me in my work; please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all evil and disaster!’ And God granted his request” (1 Chronicles 4:10).
A person who prays that kind of prayer values himself, his work and his walk with God. His mother didn’t do him any favors. She did not have an easy birth with Jabez so she named him Jabez which means, Distress. Every time she called him for supper he was reminded that he was distressful to his mother. That will put a person into therapy! My immediate inclination is to suggest he must have had someone who valued him. A father, brother, teacher, basketball coach, the guy who washed the camels—someone. But no one is mentioned.
To value yourself is to think, “You’re worth it!” That does not mean self-indulgence—“Go ahead, have that third cupcake. You’re worth it.” It means to invest in yourself with learning and growth opportunities. Invest in someone and experience the bounce back effect.
How will you invest in yourself today? How will you value someone else?
D. Dean Benton
Benton Quest House
http://bentonquesthouse.weebly.com
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