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. 

Failure or Faithful

How do you define success? Is it defined by your job title and salary? Is it defined by the number of people who know and admire you? Is it defined by how many toys you accumulate, or the size of the house you live in? Maybe it is defined by the car you drive and the clothes you wear. 

Jesus measures success much differently than the world does. Some of the most successful people in His eyes you never hear about. They are not rich in material things but abounding in spiritual wealth. Some of the most successful people to Jesus endured suffering. His success metrics are different. Please allow me to introduce to you to one success story. 

Many people have heard about John the Baptist. He was a prophet. He prepared the way for the earthly ministry of Jesus. He pulled no punches. He called the religious leaders of the day a brood of vipers. He preached a message of repentance and crowds responded getting baptized by John. After Jesus came on the scene to begin his earthly ministry, we do not hear a lot about John. 

John was arrested in put in prison for calling out the sin of King Herod. Herod's wife hated John. She manipulated for John's beheading. You can read about that in Mark 6. Before his death, John heard about the things Jesus did. John faced a crisis of belief. He had doubts and sent someone to question whether Jesus was the Messiah. 

Jesus' response is curious and challenging. He said in Matt 11:5-6, The blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me. 

Jesus did not directly answer John about whether He was the Messiah. He just laid out what He did and left it up to John to believe. The phrase "blessed is he who does not take offense at Me," means blessed are the people who do not stumble or get tripped up over Jesus. Author, Gene Edwards, interprets that phrase as will you serve a God you do not understand? Will you remain faithful when you can't make sense of your circumstances? 

People could easily make a case that John the Baptist was not successful. He dressed funny dressed in camel's hair and ate weird food like locusts and honey. He had a short ministry. At the height of his popularity, He took a backseat to Jesus. He got arrested and had his head cut off. That does not look like much of a success story. Not until you consider what Jesus said about him. In Matt 11:11 Jesus commented on John, "Truly I say to you among those born of women there has not arisen anyone Greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than him." 

Jesus viewed John's faithfulness to the assignment God the Father gave him as success. John preached boldly. He called people to repentance. He fearlessly called out sin. He did not get swayed by political correctness or popular opinion. Jesus saw that faithfulness to the mission was success. Fancy titles, large salaries, and luxury living do not always equate to success in the Lord's eyes. There are Jesus followers who labor in thankless jobs in obscure places, but they are faithful. They do their work as unto the Lord and not unto men. Col 3:23. They are not failures to Him. Faithfulness matters to the Lord Jesus Christ. He sees the work you do. He notices the night watches, the attention to detail, the long labors, and the lack of fanfare for what you do. Others may view you as a failure. The Lord views you as faithful and a success. That will all be sorted out in eternity for believers. 

Let me encourage you to keep pressing on. Take to heart the truth of Galatians 6:9. There will be reward for your faithfulness if you do not lose heart. You are not a failure. You are faithful and great in His eyes. Not a failure, but rather a faithful servant. One day you will hear Him say, "Well done good and faithful servant."