Around 1949, brothers Maurice (nicknamed Mac) and Richard McDonald from California changed the norm relating to drive-through restaurants. The brothers realized they could do better than the drive-through restaurants at the time, when wait times were long and waitresses came to the car.
As a result they closed their business for three months and revamped it by introducing the speedy service system known today as the Fast Food industry.
They drastically reduced the menu to soft drinks, shakes, fries and hamburgers. Customers now came to the counter and only waited a whole two minutes as a result of this system overhaul. The system with 15-cent hamburgers took off and they began selling franchises.
Ray Kroc bought the name in 1961 for $2.7 million with a big vision of 1,000 restaurants in the USA. There are now more than 36,000 restaurants in over 100 nations.
The moral of this story is that they were motivated to invoke change and lead in a new direction. This took courage to go against the grain.
The dictionary definition of motivate means to prompt, drive, move, inspire; stimulate one's interest. It also means to cause with reason to act.
I am sure in our life we all have those causes with reason to act. Today's fast-paced world may cause us to step back and take a breather. Maybe this summer we can go camping, take more long walks with the dog or just find a quiet place to read that book we have put on the shelf. Whatever our situation, may we break our norm and take some time to smell the roses, so to speak.
From a biblical perspective, the love of our heavenly Father invoked Him to act by sending his son so that we may learn to love one another unconditionally.
Moved and motivated by Christ’s unconditional love, our little gang in Port Robinson has also been called to invoke change by working toward resurrecting a viable living church here in Port Robinson. Realizing that the public voice of Christ’s love has essentially laid dormant for at least 10 years, we, by the grace of God, have been motivated to invoke change in this particular area.
God’s love for this community is our motivation for inviting all to join us each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at the community centre as we explore the wonders of His love for each of us.
This, then, is our motivation for change. Just as the McDonald brothers invoked change in the food industry, so we continue to invoke change in our community by proclaiming the good news of gospel again in this awesome community of Port Robinson.
This motivation for change or this stirring within our spirits is very scriptural. Stirred means to kindle afresh. As such, we are being stirred to start afresh, a new work in Port Robinson to establish the gospel presence again in this community.
In 2 Tim 1:6 Paul encourages Timothy to fan into flame the gifts of God given him. Paul is essentially saying, "Your gift is capable of dying through neglect, so stir it up, man."
Just as the McDonald brothers were stirred and motivated to provoke change, may we, too, be stirred to make changes in our life, if need be. May we be encouraged to take that time from our busy world, go for that walk, read that book, or maybe even head to church this Sunday. Whatever the case, may we continue to invoke that sometimes needed change in our life.
