Think a minute…In 1951 a nuclear disaster nearly happened at a nuclear power plant in Canada. The core reactor melted down, so it had to be taken apart before deadly radiation escaped into the nearby community. The challenge was to quickly find the right person who was both highly trained and also brave enough to do such a dangerous, and potentially deadly, job.
A 26-year-old lieutenant in the United States Navy who was highly trained in nuclear physics and reactor technology rose to the challenge. He had top security clearance at the headquarters of the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington D.C., so he was flown to the nuclear power plant in Canada where the accident had happened.
There he led a team of trained technicians as they quickly practiced each precise step of taking apart the melted reactor. Finally, wearing special radiation-resistant clothing and armed with only the tools in his hands, the lieutenant went where no human being had gone before: a melted-down nuclear reactor core.
He had to take the reactor apart perfectly, with each step taking no longer than one minute and 30 seconds. In that amount of time this young lieutenant’s body was exposed to the maximum allowable radiation for a human being for an entire year! His swift and skillful work was crucial to his own survival. He had no time for even one small mistake of fumbling for a needed part or tool. Both his life and the lives of many others were depending on him.
He not only survived, he succeeded! And not only at that challenging job, but many others throughout his life. For that young Navy lieutenant who saved countless lives by skillfully and bravely going where no human in history had gone before, went on to become President of the United States: Jimmy Carter.
Remember, what we become in the future is determined by the choices we make today…and every day. We must choose to do the right thing and be our very best, no matter what the cost or risk. If we keep “doing the next right thing” it becomes our daily habit and character that continually brings us greater success in life. Won’t you ask Jesus to forgive you for not living the way you know you should, and to help you start living His right, best way every day? Just think a minute…