September 6 Thought for the day...commit to be committed

I have talked with many employers who are having a tough time finding employees that will stay. Staying power is something that is missing in much of our culture today. It is also a problem in the church, and Paul addresses that in 1 Corinthians 4:1

"Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God."

How many times have you felt unappreciated? You may have worked hard or have been working hard on some project or at some job, and it seems no one notices, no one says "thank you." You feel as if you should just quit. Others are having fun, and you are slaving away at this job. Everyone likes to be thanked. Everyone wants to be appreciated. Sadly it doesn't happen all the time.

The word Paul uses for "servants" we have dealt with in the past. If you remember the post about the slaves, who served on the ships. The word is described as the slaves on a ship bound by heavy chains who know the only way the ship moves is if they move it.

Paul uses this word for good reason. The commitment of the slaves bound by heavy chains should be the way we are committed to serving Christ, knowing that we are in this for the long haul, fully engaged for life. Often our flesh or the enemy will do their best to make us feel unappreciated, lose the dream of our future, or the value of what we are doing. Paul is stressing that we need to hang in there. It is easy to take our eyes off of the prize.

When we commit to fulfilling the fantastic, awesome plan God has for our lives, assaults will start coming from everywhere. The devil becomes afraid, our friends and family want us to stay in the norm rather than achieving great heights, and our own flesh prefers comfort over being exceptional. We must remember it is easy to start obeying God's call; it is hard to finish well.

God calls us to commit to complete our race, to accomplish the task, to win every time. We must choose to be the "stewards," the ones who keep and cherish the plan of God to completion. You, completing your task helps others achieve theirs and how God accomplishes His perfect will on the earth. Each of us has a valuable part to play. Stay on task! Commit to be committed!

If you are part of my life and I have neglected ever to say, "Thank you," please forgive me and know that I pray it will never happen again.