PICKING ONE THING AND DOING IT WELL
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
There was a time when each person had basically one craft that they were good at and held onto all of their life. These people were known for doing that certain kind of work within the community they lived in and they had their identity and reputation all tied together with the quality of work they did. Often you would find that the person who did the work would sign their name somewhere on what ever the work was they had done as a claim of it's quality and workmanship.
As time went on we began to drop that custom because things were becoming automated to the point that no one person could even claim they had made something because of factories that pumped out mass quantities of product. Goods and service soon fell into a kind of black hole that was no longer personal, and the idea of real craftsmanship became something of the past. After a while we tried to adopt a principal of specialization in fields that were more respected like Law or Medicine but our concepts of personal responsibility for the product we produced has remained hidden from the light of day. You may have heard the story of the old man who gave the advice of being successful in life as " Doing one thing, and doing it very well".. In many ways that is also the advice that Jesus gives us in having a successful life; we must put God before all others things and love with our whole heart, mind, and soul the things of God above all else. Our God has promised to provide all that we would need in this life if we do that.
It becomes the most simple, and yet at the same time the most difficult of anything that we will ever do in life to trust in those words and concepts from God to us. At the very same time it becomes the only real advice that makes any sense for those of us who believe in His plan of salvation. Choosing to pick that one thing that we are; the one thing that we do above all else to do with our whole person, and then sign our name to it's quality of workmanship is what God is asking from us. He has promised to help us to achieve that goal in life by being directly involved in every step we take in this life. We may make some very bad choices for ourselves, but God has promised to save us from destruction; we may have to pay a great price for what we learn from that School of hard knocks" we have come from and yet the lesson will not be wasted and the building of us as a person will not be wasted if we stay with Him. In a time when we are so in need of security and reassurance in life we must choose the source of that security while we are here and now, and we must realize that it is not to be found in this place, but in the creator Himself.
Our very lives are meant to be stretched and challenged in doing this one single thing; and we may well start out to do something entirely different with our lives than what we end up with. I have attempted so many things in my life that I wanted to do. All of the time I may have been claiming that I wanted this or that for God's will and yet none of it came either easily or fully. God has wanted me to use the experiences I have had in this life to teach with, and to reach others with who may not have been able to be touched by someone else. Here I am at 70 years old and still learning everyday from God who it is He wants for me to be! In many ways I am still growing up! The one thing that I am confident in is that He wants for me to stay centered in the teachings of the Good News from Jesus Christ; and not focused on church doctrine.
If we can pick out one thing to focus on in this life, and know that we will always be in the center of God's will for our lives, it has to be the message of the new covenant that Jesus brought to us in His ministry to establish the church. Lets concentrate on that message, and that salvation as our one thing that we do well in life, and I doubt we will ever be disappointed in the results! May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
There was a time when each person had basically one craft that they were good at and held onto all of their life. These people were known for doing that certain kind of work within the community they lived in and they had their identity and reputation all tied together with the quality of work they did. Often you would find that the person who did the work would sign their name somewhere on what ever the work was they had done as a claim of it's quality and workmanship.
As time went on we began to drop that custom because things were becoming automated to the point that no one person could even claim they had made something because of factories that pumped out mass quantities of product. Goods and service soon fell into a kind of black hole that was no longer personal, and the idea of real craftsmanship became something of the past. After a while we tried to adopt a principal of specialization in fields that were more respected like Law or Medicine but our concepts of personal responsibility for the product we produced has remained hidden from the light of day. You may have heard the story of the old man who gave the advice of being successful in life as " Doing one thing, and doing it very well".. In many ways that is also the advice that Jesus gives us in having a successful life; we must put God before all others things and love with our whole heart, mind, and soul the things of God above all else. Our God has promised to provide all that we would need in this life if we do that.
It becomes the most simple, and yet at the same time the most difficult of anything that we will ever do in life to trust in those words and concepts from God to us. At the very same time it becomes the only real advice that makes any sense for those of us who believe in His plan of salvation. Choosing to pick that one thing that we are; the one thing that we do above all else to do with our whole person, and then sign our name to it's quality of workmanship is what God is asking from us. He has promised to help us to achieve that goal in life by being directly involved in every step we take in this life. We may make some very bad choices for ourselves, but God has promised to save us from destruction; we may have to pay a great price for what we learn from that School of hard knocks" we have come from and yet the lesson will not be wasted and the building of us as a person will not be wasted if we stay with Him. In a time when we are so in need of security and reassurance in life we must choose the source of that security while we are here and now, and we must realize that it is not to be found in this place, but in the creator Himself.
Our very lives are meant to be stretched and challenged in doing this one single thing; and we may well start out to do something entirely different with our lives than what we end up with. I have attempted so many things in my life that I wanted to do. All of the time I may have been claiming that I wanted this or that for God's will and yet none of it came either easily or fully. God has wanted me to use the experiences I have had in this life to teach with, and to reach others with who may not have been able to be touched by someone else. Here I am at 70 years old and still learning everyday from God who it is He wants for me to be! In many ways I am still growing up! The one thing that I am confident in is that He wants for me to stay centered in the teachings of the Good News from Jesus Christ; and not focused on church doctrine.
If we can pick out one thing to focus on in this life, and know that we will always be in the center of God's will for our lives, it has to be the message of the new covenant that Jesus brought to us in His ministry to establish the church. Lets concentrate on that message, and that salvation as our one thing that we do well in life, and I doubt we will ever be disappointed in the results! May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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