Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord . . . Colossians 3:23
I understood the words, believed them, and committed myself to following them. But this was before I was hungry or had hit a golf ball that day.
Last week I saw the application in the things I didn’t want to do. The things I found tedious. Uninteresting. And vowed to serve and honor God by doing those duties joyfully—with all my heart as though doing them for the Lord.
This week, however, the words came at me from a different angle and hit me hard in two areas I love—eating and golfing.
It’s easy to commit both to the Lord first thing in the morning—to eat sensibly and to honor God with my attitude on the course. But as the day progresses . . . well . . . let’s just say it gets a bit tougher.
When I get hungry, I want to satisfy that hunger immediately and with the quickest, best tasting options available—which usually are not healthy choices. And even if there are healthy choices available, my hunger steers me toward what I perceive as the more satisfying.
On the course, if all is going well, my attitude can be God honoring, but when the swing goes off, the luck turns bad, and the number of shots it takes to get in the hole increases exponentially, well . . . it’s not pretty . . . and definitely not God honoring.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord . . .
Last week, “as working for the Lord” provided motivation for doing the undesirable, the intrusive. This week that same phrase challenged my motivation. Why was I doing what I was doing? And it turns out that neither of my top two reasons had anything to do with glorifying God.
The first was for my own personal satisfaction—feeling good about how I looked and felt and getting more proficient at my hobby. The second, I hate to admit, was for others, hoping they would notice my ability to maintain a healthy weight and to hit an impressive golf score. With those two reasons as my focus, falling short in either area only produced discouragement and frustration because there was pressure in performing well.
When Matthew 6:19-21 talked about storing up treasures in heaven rather than on earth it’s because anything tethered to the earth (weight, golf scores, and public validation) can fluctuate moment by moment and will have no lasting importance. But how we honor God will. Our attitude trumps ability every time.
I need a reset button so that when my focus starts drifting toward the things of this world, I can push that button, reground myself, and remember a second verse that reiterates what Colossians 3:23 said.
“. . . whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” I Corinthians 10:31
I understood the words, believed them, and committed myself to following them. But this was before I was hungry or had hit a golf ball that day.
Last week I saw the application in the things I didn’t want to do. The things I found tedious. Uninteresting. And vowed to serve and honor God by doing those duties joyfully—with all my heart as though doing them for the Lord.
This week, however, the words came at me from a different angle and hit me hard in two areas I love—eating and golfing.
It’s easy to commit both to the Lord first thing in the morning—to eat sensibly and to honor God with my attitude on the course. But as the day progresses . . . well . . . let’s just say it gets a bit tougher.
When I get hungry, I want to satisfy that hunger immediately and with the quickest, best tasting options available—which usually are not healthy choices. And even if there are healthy choices available, my hunger steers me toward what I perceive as the more satisfying.
On the course, if all is going well, my attitude can be God honoring, but when the swing goes off, the luck turns bad, and the number of shots it takes to get in the hole increases exponentially, well . . . it’s not pretty . . . and definitely not God honoring.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord . . .
Last week, “as working for the Lord” provided motivation for doing the undesirable, the intrusive. This week that same phrase challenged my motivation. Why was I doing what I was doing? And it turns out that neither of my top two reasons had anything to do with glorifying God.
The first was for my own personal satisfaction—feeling good about how I looked and felt and getting more proficient at my hobby. The second, I hate to admit, was for others, hoping they would notice my ability to maintain a healthy weight and to hit an impressive golf score. With those two reasons as my focus, falling short in either area only produced discouragement and frustration because there was pressure in performing well.
When Matthew 6:19-21 talked about storing up treasures in heaven rather than on earth it’s because anything tethered to the earth (weight, golf scores, and public validation) can fluctuate moment by moment and will have no lasting importance. But how we honor God will. Our attitude trumps ability every time.
I need a reset button so that when my focus starts drifting toward the things of this world, I can push that button, reground myself, and remember a second verse that reiterates what Colossians 3:23 said.
“. . . whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” I Corinthians 10:31
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