A Great Street Sweeper

 "If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry, he should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well." MLK JR.

Col 3:17 exhorts us that whatever we do in word or deed we should do it in the name of the Lord. That means all things we do and say on any given day continually we are to give our best in representation of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not to give slothful effort, do shoddy work, or be slack in our responsibilities. We are to do our best and speak our best consistently. 

There is the temptation to give our best efforts to important tasks that will bring recognition and not to give greatest effort for seemingly unimportant tasks nobody will notice. Jesus sees. He notices. We are to do it all for Him as acts of worship. 

I have had the privilege of preaching to 1,000 people. I have also had the privilege of teaching one on numerous occasions. Unto the Lord I am supposed to give my best no matter the size of the crowd. To preach or teach like I am preaching to a thousand even if there are only a few people in the room. 

The name of Jesus means something. Christians are representatives of Him. Lazy, undependable, and half hearted work does not glorify Him. Industrious, dependable, offering our best does glorify Him. No matter if you are a janitor, garbage collector, secretary, teacher, mechanic, farmer, executive, banker, or coach. God expects and demands our best as representatives of His Son Jesus. 

Even if it means sweeping streets. This applies to husbands, wives, and children. It goes for the nursery workers, the president of the company, as well as the President of The United States. It is true of the mega church pastor as well as the backwoods parson. It is true of the maid and wait staff as well as the owner of the company. The Lord Jesus Christ deserves our best. 

I find it interesting the context of this passage goes directly into wives, husbands, and children responsibilities. Even in the family dynamic we are to do our best as unto the Lord Jesus. That means wives submitting, husbands loving, and children obeying. 

This world would be a far better place if everyone did their best in everything. When this doesn't happen people get angry. They are frustrated and can even become bitter. As much as it is possible, may we resolve to do our best in word and deed. Constantly remembering we are not doing it for others who may not ever notice our efforts. We are doing it as an act of worship for our Lord and King Jesus.