Practice Make Perfect

Have you ever been required to go to a meeting you didn’t want to go to or do something that you weren’t really interested in? Were you at the top of your game? Did you pour everything you had into it to get the most out of it? If you were asked to help someone that you really didn’t care about, were your efforts the best that you could give? We make choices all day long. I’ve known of a number of pastors in my lifetime that I can truly say would have done the as much preparation and effort for one person as they would have for a hundred. It has been said that integrity is confirmed or discredited based on how you act when you don’t think anyone is watching. In order to do our best, even if the recipient of our action won’t notice, we need to be prepared... and some of that preparation includes practice. If you are called to read Scripture in church, it is good to practice... to make sure you are familiar with the content, know how to pronounce all the words, and practice, practice, practice. When we are sharing our gifts with others, it might be important how they receive it. It might, however, be more important what your heart is like when you give it. Are you doing it for your glory or for the benefit of the one you are helping? Are you using every opportunity you are given to honor and serve God? What do I mean by that? When you commit to something, are you doing the best you can with the gifts God has given you or are you just going through the motions? It doesn’t matter if you are preaching in church or talking with friends, the desire of your heart effects what you do. I may have shared this before, but I remember a maintenance worker at a camp I worked at in North Dakota saying something that impacted me in many ways. At a campfire, after all the campers had returned home, she declared that she cleaned the toilets to the glory of God. Would you consider cleaning toilets as God’s work? She knew that if the toilets were clean, the campers would be in a better place to receive God’s word. Even if she never verbally shared her faith, she glorified God by doing the best she could with what she had been asked to do. It shouldn’t have to be listed as a ministry for us to do it for the glory of our Father. Almighty God, we haven’t always given our best. Help us to do everything in life, with Your help, to the best of our abilities. Amen