Colossians 3:23
My first job was as a busboy in a family restaurant in Ortonville. When you have your first job you are excited and start planning on what to do with all the “big money” you will be earning. Being a busboy is not glamorous. Scraping half eaten food off dishes, cleaning tables, washing dishes, taking out the trash, makes you question your life choices. My worst experience was dragging full garbage bags out of the dumpster during “all you can eat” fish fry Friday. This was to look for a little old lady’s dentures that she thought she had left on her plate. I spent my time digging through bag after bag of half-eaten fish, ketchup, tartar sauce and French fries hoping to find a needle in the haystack. Gross, gross, gross. That experience tempered my passion for my job. In Colossians it says, “whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” About that time, I heard a lesson on this verse in a youth group and thought this was impossible. How could my efforts at this lowly job make any difference to Jesus or His Kingdom? I was missing the point, it wasn’t about the importance of the job or the physical tasks to be performed, it was about my heart. Jesus wants our very best in all that we do. Our attitudes often determine our effort or the outcomes. When we have a good attitude things tend to go easier, and time seems to go by quicker. With a bad attitude it often seems the opposite.
One of Emmanuel’s team values is Passion: We will do our best in excellence at all times. In our faith walk we may have passion for the big event or serving in an “important” area of the church, but are carefree in the other areas of our walk. If we neglect the little things, being kind, showing humility, not exerting self-control (to list a few) we are not fulfilling the fundamental intent of “work at it with all your heart.” Passion can be an emotional feeling that ebbs and flows from high to low or it can steadily deepen as it is built from small obedience that builds into a powerful focused effort. The lady with the dentures found them in her purse a few hours later but she returned and thanked me personally for the effort in the trash pile. Doing the little things well…pleases God. God spins our efforts big and small into incredible impact for the kingdom. Do your best at all times and allow God to work out the details.
One of Emmanuel’s team values is Passion: We will do our best in excellence at all times. In our faith walk we may have passion for the big event or serving in an “important” area of the church, but are carefree in the other areas of our walk. If we neglect the little things, being kind, showing humility, not exerting self-control (to list a few) we are not fulfilling the fundamental intent of “work at it with all your heart.” Passion can be an emotional feeling that ebbs and flows from high to low or it can steadily deepen as it is built from small obedience that builds into a powerful focused effort. The lady with the dentures found them in her purse a few hours later but she returned and thanked me personally for the effort in the trash pile. Doing the little things well…pleases God. God spins our efforts big and small into incredible impact for the kingdom. Do your best at all times and allow God to work out the details.
Posted in Devotional