I Tried

 Everyone of us will leave this earth one of two ways. Jesus could return and call us home through the rapture. The other option is we will die. Either way, we one day will have to face Jesus to give account for our lives. Those who trusted Jesus for salvation will enter heaven. Those who rejected Him will be condemned to hell. 

The group Mercy Me had a hit song several years ago, I Can Only Imagine, written by lead singer Bart Millard. What will we as Christians say to the Lord on that day? I heard the story of a much used preacher who contemplated that communication with the risen Lord. The given response was, "I tried. I did the best that I could."

Can we say the same? Can we tell the Lord that we tried? We did the best that we knew how. We tried to love Him the best that we could. We tried to serve Him the best way we knew how. We tried to point others to Him. We tried to obey His teachings. We tried to love others the way He does. We tried to believe Him even when life got hard and things did not make sense to us. 

I make a confession. I do not try hard at everything. A few years ago, Brenda and I were at a marriage retreat. They held a competition to see who could put a small jig saw puzzle together the fastest. It frustrated me. I cannot recall ever putting a jig saw puzzle together. Brenda worked at it patiently. I tried a few pieces and she kept telling me they were not the right fit. Finally, I just let her do it. I did not try as hard at that as I do riding my bike or lifting weights. 

I believe God deserves our best. Read Col 3:17. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. We are to try our best as an act of worship to the Lord. Col 3:23 reminds us that we work for the Lord and not for men. Therefore, we should do our work heartily. We should put our heart and soul into whatever we do. In other words, to try our best. I am not suggesting that we not give our best work to other people. The point is the ultimate motivation should be that we try our best to honor God above all other motivations. 

Trying to serve and please God must become a top priority. There are some who offer the Lord second rate service and half hearted devotion. That is not honoring to Him. Your best may look differently than someone else giving their best. When we come to worship it should be our desire to sing to Him. Whether we are on key or off key is not the point. He wants our hearts engaged in exalting Him. He wants our focus in reading and studying scripture. None us will be perfect in attempts to worship and serve the Lord. We can try our best.