Original: July 30, 2007
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…Colossians 3:23
6 You know that I've worked for your father with all my strength…Genesis 31:6
As a high school student addicted to sports I sought out every passage in the Bible that spoke about the topic. One of the tools Gary McCuskar used to draw me into the concept of Christianity when he handed me my first Bible (before I came to Christ) was the concept of “Total Release Performance.” This formula for athletic excellence is based on Christ’s total release for us. I think it was put out by Campus Crusade for Christ several decades ago. The Total Release athlete gives his or her all on the field for the One who gave his all for you and me. A phrase used with total release advocates is that athletes perform for an “audience of One”, that is Jesus. In other words, live, work, serve and love as if Jesus were our only audience.
Godly men perform for an audience of One.
During my senior year I still remember Gary yelling out to the football field, “Jim, total release, total release.” I have always remembered his words and to this day I strive to give Jesus all I have as I perform for an audience of ONE.
When we look at Jacob’s (later known as Israel) life with God we catch a hint of this passage. Jacob’s situation was not the best. He worked for seven years to marry his dream girl only to wake up the next morning in a nightmare discovering he had married the wrong woman!
By the way, how do you do that? Then he had to work seven years more until he was finally given his dream girl, Rachel.
Ultimately, God blessed his heart and efforts.
Verse six helps us to see why as he shared that “I have served you Father with all my strength.” Jacob held nothing back. He left nothing on the field at the end of the day. He gave his best effort to a man with questionable integrity. Jacob used up all of his strength as he wrestled with Laban and ultimately wrestled with God.
Giving your best effort has nothing to do with who or what you are working for and everything about the audience that is watching you.
