The Discovery
DAY ONE
DAY ONE: GIVING IT YOUR ALL
In religious circles, we talk a lot about letting God work through us, and He
does. (Remember John 15:5-8) We talk about
waiting on the Lord, and we should. We talk about spiritual growth as a process,
and it is. However, we must be very careful not to use these ideas as excuses to
become passive, lazy, or complacent about our own spiritual condition or our
usefulness within the body. While it is certainly true that Christ works
through us to accomplish the will of God, obedience to Him does require effort
on our part. It is not always easy to follow Him, stay motivated to grow, or
to continually press for the level of excellence in service that He deserves.
Yet, we must do these things or the body of Christ will atrophy.
You may have heard this verse one hundred times, but take a closer look. It
calls us to do more than “a good job for Jesus.” It calls us to do everything as
Christ’s ambassadors, performing our daily tasks just as He would if they had
been assigned to Him. It also calls us to view our daily activities and the
details of our assignments as opportunities to demonstrate our gratitude to God
for what He has done for us. Does that raise the stakes and expectation of
excellence in our work? Absolutely.
In every task in any location, we should be compelled by the love of God to
serve and love. We should never lack motivation to live for God.
As you begin your assignment, guard against the tendency to simply do a
better job than the next person or last person. Give it your all! Not for
yourself, but for God. You may be speaking, cleaning carpet, stacking chairs,
running a sound board, leading worship, painting, updating a web site or
thousands of other things. But with each task, serve in such a way that others
would know, without question, that you belong to Jesus. Serve in such a way that
Jesus would be well-represented and God sufficiently thanked for the salvation
you have because of Him. Let the love of God compel you. Just as His love is
excellent, strive for excellence in every area of your life.
Take a few moments and write your thoughts, concerns, and questions in your
journal. Allow the following thought suggestions to guide you.
What excuses have you used in the past for doing or being less than God
called you to do or be? Are those legitimate excuses? Explain.
Are there some tasks that God would require you to do well and other tasks
that are “lesser” in the Kingdom of God?
Are you serving God in any and every way that you can right now or are you
waiting for a “big” task before you start serving? If you wait on a job that
everyone will see as important, before you will serve, what does that tell you
about your motivation to serve God and people?
What did God say to you today?