The Hunt for Red October

I like war movies. Maybe you do too. Do any of you remember the movie The Hunt for Red October? It is a great movie with a scene that illustrates how we should live. You may remember the scene. The Soviet submarine commander (Sean Connery) made a strategic move when his sub was fired upon by an American sub. Instead of trying to avoid danger, he turned his sub toward the torpedo and headed right for it. All his men thought the Commander had finally lost his mind. Who steers toward danger, not away from it? Little did they know his strategic maneuver would save their lives? By moving toward the torpedo, he disrupted the computerized timing mechanism and the torpedo struck their sub without exploding. He closed the gap.

What a perfect analogy for life. Maybe God is asking us to close the gap. I am convinced that everyone has a gap between where they are and where they can be. I believe God helps close our gap by drawing us His direction. Try to think about one thing you can do to close your gap – one thing that will help you take a step closer to Christ.

Volumes of books have been written outlining expert opinions on effective self-help characteristics. I’m sure you’ve seen the titles: 7 Habits of Highly Effective people, The Life Strategies Workbook, Chicken Soup for Everything, and on and on. There are books on parenting, mental disorders, self-esteem, relationships, communication and more. All designed to help us improve. In all these titles, I see one common factor – Attitude. You can change everything by changing your attitude.

Talent and Ability determine what we can accomplish. Attitude determines how well we will accomplish it (Lou Holtz).

A recent focus study administered by Business Week Magazine listed the 25 top companies in customer service. A few of the top 25 include: Four Seasons Hotels, Cadillac, Nordstrom, UPS, Lexus, Apple, Starbucks, Hertz and FedEx. The most common theme Business Week discovered in the top companies was an attitude that centered on the need to constantly improve. No matter how good we are, we need to improve. Attitude is the catalyst.

a Philippians 2:5
a Ephesians 4:22-24
a I Peter 4:10
a Philippians 4:8

Don’t be satisfied with the status quo.