There are five days of Think a Minute resources on this page, one for each day of the work week. Click the link for the Audio Player to play the file. You may view the transcript of the audio file while you listen by clicking on the Audio Transcript button. Finally you may download the audio file and script for each day by clicking on the button in the Download tab.
Think a minute… One day in 1894, Guglielmo returned to his room on the third floor of his parents’ house. He had spent several months of reading books and filling notebooks with detailed drawings and diagrams. Now it was time to work at bringing those drawings from paper into practical inventions to use in real life.
He got up early every morning and worked all day until late at night, to the point that his mother began to seriously worry about his health. He worked so long and hard every day, barely stopping to eat or sleep, that he continued losing weight.
Finally the day came when he announced to his family that he was ready to show them what he had been working tirelessly to build. They climbed the stairs to his room on the third floor. Guglielmo pushed a button which rang a bell down on the first floor. His mother was amazed and proud of her son. But his father was not! He saw no value or use in being able to send a signal over such a short distance. So Guglielmo kept on working.
Little by little he made changes in his invention to send a signal from one hill to the next, and then beyond the hill. Eventually, through his perspiration and perseverance, his invention was perfected.
Guglielmo Marconi became famous as the inventor of wireless telegraphy, which started the technology for the invention of radio. Marconi not only received the Nobel Prize in physics, but also a position in the Italian senate and many honorary degrees.
Someone said: “The way to get to the top is to get off your bottom.” That’s why “You gotta work it to win it.” You can accomplish nearly anything IF you commit your heart and life to it by combining your vision with hard work. Your dream, plus your discipline and determination, will keep you working till you win. But there is just one person who can help you win at living the right, best dream for your life, and naturally that is your own Maker. If you will give Jesus your heart and life, He will give you the guidance and power to keep working each day to reach your potential, and experience all the success He designed you to enjoy and use for others. Just think a minute…
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Think a minute… Ben Banneker was a respected African-American scholar who became a brilliant mathematician, designer and engineer. In fact, Ben was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of State to a top team of engineers to design the master plan for a modern city. The group of international engineers was led by French architect Charles L’Enfant, whose grand plan was to be used for this modern masterpiece that included both artistic beauty and the latest technology in transportation and communication.
Unfortunately, for this genius architect L’Enfant, he soon was accused of trying to control the plan for his own purposes. So before the land had even been surveyed, the chief engineer and architect returned to France, taking the government’s plans with him.
With their city plans now gone, the U.S. Secretary of State called an emergency meeting of all the city commissioners and engineers, including Ben Banneker. In the meeting, Ben shocked them all by assuring them that he had thoroughly studied L’Enfant’s maps and plans and Ben was quite certain he could remember every detail.
At first, the committee did not believe that anyone could keep in their mind all the complex designs and drawings of an entire large city! To memorize the architectural details of just one building would be amazing enough. But Ben began to precisely draw all of the original plans he still had in his mind… and that beautiful modern city was built entirely from Ben’s memory, which Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who later became the president, had trusted. In fact, you may have even visited this city. For the plans that Ben Banneker carried in his mind were for Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States.
Did you know that your Maker has a brilliant and beautiful master plan for your life? He’s just been waiting for you to come home to Him, so with His help you can start thinking and living His way every day. Once and for all, won’t you ask Jesus to take full charge and begin changing your mind and heart? Then, you can start living the true, good life and plan that He custom designed for you. Just think a minute…
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Think a minute… A school teacher was complaining about a little boy in her class who was not showing any interest in learning. She said: “David will not do his school work. He’s not even motivated to try!” But that same boy, David, will jump out of bed early in the morning to go fishing or play with his friends. He just needs the right motivation.
Everyone can be motivated. Just watch people leaving work on Friday. Even at the end of a long week of work, they still have plenty of motivation and energy to party that evening and throughout the weekend!
Maybe you had a school teacher who made a certain subject interesting and exciting to you. He or she inspired and gave you the desire to learn. They explained things so you could clearly understand, and as a result you did much better in that teacher’s class than the other ones.
But we parents are our kids’ most important teachers. We are the main ones responsible to motivate our children, so they want to learn to succeed and become their best in life. But to do that we cannot just tell our kids, we also must show them that we believe in them. We must spend time watching and listening to our children, so we can help them know what their natural, unique talents are. Then we need to encourage them in that area so they can fully develop their own special abilities—whether it is academics in school, business, social skills and relating to people, sports, music, or whatever they naturally enjoy and do well.
You and I can motivate our children by always loving and accepting them without conditions, no matter what they do. We must understand the difference between approval and acceptance. Even when we do not approve of everything they do, our kids need to know we still always accept and love them without conditions. Then when our children do something well and right, we need to motivate and help them to become more confident by encouraging them.
Maybe you yourself never had someone who motivated you to become your best. But today, if you will ask Jesus to take full charge of your heart with His real love and power, He can start changing your life. He wants to show you the special abilities He gave you, plus, He will help you fully develop them. Then as you become your best, you can share His love by encouraging and motivating others to become their best. Just think a minute…
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Think a minute… The famous car manufacturer Henry Ford was the first to use the assembly line in his factory for mass production. His company built and sold hundreds of cars each and every day. But one day the big generator that produced all the electricity for Ford’s factory suddenly stopped working. The entire factory shut down, costing Ford a massive amount of money. He quickly called one of the nation’s top engineers to come fix it. The expert engineer soon arrived and began examining and tinkering with the big generator. After only one hour, the engineer had found the problem and fixed it! Immediately Ford’s factory began making cars and money again.
A few days later Ford received the bill in the mail from that top engineer for fixing Ford’s factory generator. The bill was $10,000! Ford could not believe how expensive it was, so he called the engineer on the phone. He said: “Excuse me, Sir, but isn’t $10,000 rather high for just 1 hour of tinkering?” The engineer replied: “Mr. Ford, I’m charging you $10 for my one hour of tinkering, and $9,990 for knowing WHERE to tinker!” Ford answered: “I guess you’re right.” And Ford paid the engineer his $10,000.
People usually accept your own estimate of yourself. They give you the same worth you give yourself. So don’t sell yourself short! I’m not saying we should go around full of pride, thinking we are better than other people. But if you have special abilities, training, or experience in a certain skill, then you have reason to be confident in your work and charge what you’re worth—whether it be with computers, sales, carpentry, construction, business, farming, teaching, music, etc.
Obviously, the One Who really knows your abilities is the One Who designed and made you. In fact, no matter what the world says your value is, your real worth comes from how much your Maker paid for you. God Himself paid for you with His own life. He actually became a human being to die for all of your sins, so you could choose not to be separated from Him and live in the worst agony forever. Today, won’t you ask Jesus to forgive you for all of your wrong living and sins, and to become the Lord of every area of your life? It is only then you can start learning your real worth from the One Who designed and created you. Just think a minute…
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Think a minute… A little boy named John was watching his mother bake a cake. She put all the ingredients on the table: flour, butter, sugar, baking powder, eggs and vanilla. When his mother was not looking, little John sneaked a taste of each ingredient. But they tasted bad by themselves! Then he watched his mother mix all the ingredients together and into the oven to bake. That night after John enjoyed two big pieces of the cake, he said: “Wow! How can mixing all those BAD-tasting things make such a GOOD cake?” His mother smiled and answered: “The magic is in the mix!”
Sooner or later bad things happen to all of us. Maybe you did not get that job or promotion you deserved, or someone in your family suddenly became seriously sick or was terribly injured in an accident. The fact is life is a series of problems. But quite often, “Trouble can be the first path to truth.” In fact, our problems can give us our most valuable and treasured lessons for life. So “don’t give up, simply grow up.” But it takes a truly teachable, humble, and strong person to suffer wisely.
Everybody suffers, but not everybody grows better from it! We need to learn how to profit from our pain, and understand that there is a purpose behind every problem and a kind of “magic in the mix.”
Each day of our life is a training course on successful living and how to become a better person. If you give God control of your life, you cannot lose! No matter what happens to you, His inner peace and power enables you to grow stronger and wiser from everything life throws at you. So you actually learn how to “suffer successfully.” We face challenges every day in the classroom of our life, with the greatest Teacher in the world. But usually “We humans don’t know God is all we need until He’s all we’ve got.”
He is the only One Who can masterfully mix all of your life’s experiences together to produce a truly successful and satisfying life. Since you were created an eternal soul and person, you have to live with yourself forever, long after your short life here is over. But you must first put your life in God’s hands and control every day, before He can start blending together everything in your life for your good and lasting happiness. Won’t you ask Him right now to take full charge and get started? Just think a minute…
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