100 Percent

Football coaches challenged me to give 100 percent.

My dad once told me, “Son, whatever you do, do the best you can.” (Daddy, sorry if I didn’t quote you exactly.)

Today’s reading gives us similar encouragement: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart…” (Col 3:23).

In 2008 I had to drop something from my schedule. It was a side job that I enjoyed, but I couldn’t give 100 percent to my wife and my full-time job and the graduate course I was taking and the part-time teaching gig.

On a different note, a ministry professor taught me that sometimes I may need to give less than 100 percent to something. I might not be able to drop it, so I might have no choice but to do it at 50 percent. Thankfully, dropping is sometimes an option.

(Day 345: Colossians 1-4)

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Tomorrow Never Comes

“Tomorrow never comes,” occasionally quipped my dad during my childhood.

More recently someone asked me, “What are your aspirations? Do you want to become a minister someday?” I was already a minister, and the person was asking if I wanted to end up as a church’s primary preacher.

I replied with something like this: “I want to serve in God’s kingdom in a role that glorifies God, helps people, and utilizes my passions and skills.”

In the past few months, I’ve thought a lot about my future. Where does God want to use me next in full-time ministry? Should I continue on my current path of continuing education or shift to another? What writing projects should I begin, continue, or abandon? Do I want to stay in full-time church leadership for the next several decades, or should I eventually transition to a different kind of ministry?

I’ve also been reading a book by Randy Harris, who reminds me that God is now, that God is here. God is working in the here and now and wants to use me where I am with what I have.

And I come to these words in Proverbs 27:

Do not boast about tomorrow,
   for you do not know what a day may bring.

(Day 203: Proverbs 27-29)

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Day 81: Judges 10-12

In the heat of battle, Jephthah promises to sacrifice to God “whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites.” To his surprise, as soon as he gets home, his daughter dances out to meet him.

Jephthah is a “mighty warrior,” but he’s not a very considerate parent. Apparently he thinks a lot about his work as a military leader but not much about his family.

Do you struggle with this? Work demands can easily interfere with familial responsibilities. Thinking about our careers more than our families is a common temptation.

As Thanksgiving Day approaches, let’s be careful to consider our loved ones.

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