KEY SCRIPTURE: Colossians 3:23-24
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
RELEVANCE
I recently heard a quote from Sylvester Stallone, the star of Rocky. He was being interviewed about how he preferred to make and star in Rocky, whether it succeeded or failed, rather than sell the rights to it for $250,000, which was a lot of money to him then, as he was broke. The quote? At least I would have failed on my own terms.
He said if he took the money, by the time it was spent, he would live with regret for the rest of his life. It is the same with us when we don't try—when we sell out to Satan. God calls us to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul strived for it (Philippians 3:14), and we strive for it.
Within that goal, God calls us to be fathers (and mothers) in the gospel (1 John 2:13-14), to perfect or mature our ministries (Matthew 5:48, Hebrews 6:1), and to work for those who need help (Ephesians 2:10).
In these pursuits, we may fail many times and feel those failures deep in our hearts, to the point that we might think that we are failures ourselves—that our failures define us. However, that is not the case. Failure is a consistently vital part of success.
If we give it our best but fail or fall short of some of our quests, we have failed on our own terms. Everything in God is within our reach, but if we run out of life or some other issue befalls us, at least we've given it a good shake. Yet, for whatever reason, if we don't try, if we park or neglect our talents, we still fail, but not on our terms; we've failed on Satan's terms.
Silvester Stallone wrote the screenplay for Rocky and held onto his dream. It became the highest-grossing film of 1976, which may be too early for some of you. But more than that, it had one of the largest conversion rates of any movie ever. With a mere $1,100,000 budget, it turned over $225 million.
In light of this, we don't know the full value of our calling before God. Assessing its worth is not part of our economy; that is left up to God. But we must work on those critical aspects to the best of our ability, whether we succeed every time or fail, provided we keep getting up off the canvas.
The Way is narrow, but it is the Way.
PRAYER
Dear Lord, thank you for giving me pursuits that I aim for. They are consequential to my spiritual wellness and passion. Please guide me along the best paths available.
Comments