Colossians 3:22-24
22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
“Success begins the moment you totally commit yourself“. -John Maxwell
I remember hearing this for the first time on one of those leadership tapes my father had handed down to me as a young college graduate. I tested this in every scenario I could and found it to be true in the world’s definition of success a majority of the time and in God’s definition every time.
I am about to embark on another couple months of strict diet management and I guarantee that I will be moderately successful in taking pounds off. How do I know this? I know it because I will once again commit myself in a significant financial agreement with a hospital’s foundation. If I cheat – I lose a lot of $$$. If I make it – I give them a small donation for helping me. This is a tried and true method with me, because “success begins when you totally commit yourself.”
Much of our lives are lived with too many irons in the fire and conflicting goals. We want to make as much money as possible, have plenty of quality time with the family, give our all to the Lord, and take time to enjoy life. Some of you are saying, “Yea right”. We live in society that tries to lead us down every bunny trail going for the next big thing, believing that somehow we arrive at a quality of life that gives us all four things mentioned above. However, we end up finding that one of Satan’s greatest schemes is to keep us running down these trails instead of being focused on what the Lord has for us.
The most effective way to live the life God wants us to live is to commit to a path and do it to the best of our ability. You see people every day who hate their job and are “waiting” for that big opportunity that never comes. I’m not trying to squelch dreams, because God gives us new dreams and visions. However, if today passes and all we did was dream of tomorrow… We may have squandered our freedom to make those choices in the future. My Dad and Uncle LeBron taught me a valuable principle as a young man: “Bloom where you are planted”. No matter where your future is headed, today is what counts. We can either commit to excellence today and eventually succeed or simply dream of success that can only come once we have committed. We become what we are committed to.
The Apostle Paul teaches us that our goal should never be to win the approval of our boss or customer. If our goal was to simply look good with them, we might get caught in the enticement to be seen as excellent instead of being committed to excellence. The principle is that appearances only last for a time and hoping for other people’s approval can lead to disappointment. However, when we do everything we do for the Lord our commitment can make us world class workers, parents, students, and Christians. When Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling, someone asked him, “Why are you spending so much time with these corners, no one will ever see them?” Michelangelo replied, “God will”.
Our commitment is to God. We will be successful men and women in the workplace, because we will always do the right thing when we do it for God. We will be successful parents, because we will always live out the words, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord”. We will be successful in living, because our day is in constant conversation with the Lord. We will live a more fulfilled life when we take care of ourselves and take time to relax, because God can use us better with a fully charged battery.
Here’s my challenge to all of us this week:
1. Determine what you believe you should accomplish this week, according to what God would have you to do.
2. Commit yourself not to run down any other rabbit trails, but stick to your goals.
3. Have someone hold you accountable.
4. In all things – let the Lord know – “I’m doing this for you”.
God will bless you for it!
Have a wonderful week-
-Pastor Russ
Good devo about Job!