Orig. 10/04/10
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him…Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. Colossians 3:17 and 23
“Leave it on the field!” I have said it. You have, no doubt, heard it. It speaks about our effort. It speaks about our potential. It speaks about living without regrets.
I have a rather strange spiritual gift that can lead to guilt and a critical spirit when not managed for God’s glory. It is a form of discernment that God has given to tell when a person is doing his best whether in sports, school, or his relationship with Jesus. I know when a person has sold out or been compromised to a given effort. I can see it in their effort. I can see it in their excess. I can see it in their energy. I can see it in their eyes.
However, no one can give their best effort every time and during those less than best times in my life I have struggled with knowing that others can see my half-way effort as readily as I see it in them. I often see the negative effects of Matthew 7:1-2 at work in my life that reads, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
I shutter to think of the damage I have done to those closest to me through overinflated expectations. This however, goes far beyond expectations. It is more about the expectations of what God sees in, and demands out of us. God knows what we are capable of. He has hard-wired men for more than we know. He sees what no one else sees. Our prayers are filled with mediocrity when God wants to shake us up so we can shake our world.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)”
Wow! God sees greatness in his men. We need to see greatness in each other. The problem with greatness is that the potential we see for greatness is subjective (in the eyes of the beholder) and we get into trouble when we project too much greatness upon a man before that man is ready to handle (or receive) it. Potential is nothing without a deep desire and commitment to giving Jesus our best every time. It is a curse to see greatness in a person who does not see the greatness in himself. It is worse when that person sees their greatness, but rejects it through disobedience to Christ. Without obedience to the King greatness is futile. Greatness will not pass through the fire apart from Jesus (John 15:5, Matthew 6:2-5, 1 Corinthians 3:13).
Greatness comes at a price. That price is hard work. Vince Lombardi once said, “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.” Our life must be built on doing our extreme best every time, over time. Doing one’s best is not an event but a process. Offering your best once, twice or three times before relenting is nothing more than quitting. Unlike the opinions of many, life is not a marathon, but a series of sprints. The key to life is to wake up every morning ready to run. It is the process of running hard all day, every day, all the days of our life that separates greatness from mediocrity.
Greatness for God takes whole-hearted devotion over time.
