Give your best and be prepared to be surprised

A few weeks ago we went to Switzerland to fellowship – and play some football. I got to play with the Benelux amateur team – a group of young, enthousiastic kids and two adults. We (the adults) said – “Give your best” – and that is what these kids did. We didn’t win a single game (I don’t think we even scored). But we had fun and we were good for each other. To keep your eye on your goal is important – helping one another, giving your best, being kind to others along the way.

I was recently reading in Luke of when Jesus meets Peter. Peter didn’t expect anything to happen when Jesus told him to let the nets out. After all, he – Peter – was the professional. But Jesus makes it possible, when Peter thinks it is not possible. It reminded me that we try all sorts of ‘methods’ to reach people with the gospel. But it is the presence of Jesus that changes things. And we have no promise that people will listen. We are simply to be faithful in fishing. Give your best.

We had fun and we gave our best in Switserland. And I want to keep doing that each day. Tomorrow we will be welcoming Harding’s Chorus and singing at a special concert. We will give our best and be prepared to be surprised (is it possible to prepare for surprise?).

You can find pictures of our weekend on facebook (Football weekend thayngen) and here. After the concert I will have pictures up on Facebook and our picture site. Keep an eye out.

Holy – Giving my best

When I was young, I was taught to always do my best. It didn’t matter what I was doing, I was to do my very best, try my hardest. So when I played little league baseball - even when I didn’t get to play – I did my very best. I encouraged my fellow team mates and murmeled “heeey batta, batta, batta” from the bench when the opposing team was up to bat. And what did it get me? I still didn’t get to play (this was before the PC police tried to make sure everyone got equal playing time).

At school things were different. I could study just before a test and cram things pretty well into my head just long enough to do well on the test. But I got good grades – so that was my best, wasn’t it?

Is it worth it to give your very best? Why should I? Do I give my best because I will receive more if I do? Or because people will like me better? Well, actually, people may like you less if you give your best. Workers who do not work as well as you (or do not want to work as hard as you) will not be happy with the attention your hard work brings to their shoddy work. And mightn’t it just happen that you get more work because you have shown that you can handle the load?

But I am missing the point if I think giving my best is for me – although it does have benefits for me. I give my best because God gives His best and I am His child. All the way through the Old Testament – and then repeated in the New – God tells us: Be holy, for I am holy. (Check out Leviticus and 1 Peter 1:15-16)

Can you imagine where I would be if God had only given just enough to get by? Just enough for whom? To get by what?

God sent us His only begotten Son who then gave His life for us to redeem us for all eternity. And He has sent His Holy Spirit to live in us and continually sanctify us (make us holy). It is therefore in my (new) nature to give my very best in all that I do. I am holy, because He is holy and living in (and through) me.

And this is making a difference in the world and in eternity. If I allow God’s holiness to live in me, He can reach many others through me. His holiness and grace can be clearly seen and He can be glorified. That is why I give my very best: at my work, in my studies, in my relationships, even in my sports activities. It is a part of who I am – a child of the King – every day.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24