Be Someone

As we celebrate "Presidents' Day" with the original two, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, being lumped in with all the others, and with all the sales attached to this day, we can loose sight of the virtues these great men exemplify and miss the opportunity for the needed inspiration they can give.
The story is told that when nine year old Abraham Lincoln's mother was dying, she told him to remember two words: BE SOMEONE. Evidently this injunction chiseled itself into his soul, for through hardship, failure, opposition, poverty, mockery, the devastating loss of one of his sons, and the ordeal of the civil war his determination to BE SOMEONE held him to the course and left him the reputation of being one of our greatest presidents, and the legacy of one united nation where all are free. In a sense, he had to sacrifice his life for that end, but knowing that assassination was a likely possibility, he didn't let it deter him from pursuing what was right.
In the book of Leviticus, we read another compelling command: Be holy for I, The Lord, your God am holy." (Lev 19:2) A BIG challenge, for as we acknowledge our sinfulness, the call to turn away from it and become more God-like seems like a reach that we can never hope to achieve. The consoling part is, that yes, we can never reach it ourselves, but God reaches out toward us, if we allow him, and meets us more than half-way. With God, then anything is possible, even this. And if Abe could do what he did in spite of all those obstacles, then his determination stands as an inspiration to us.
Bro. Rene