Perform Consistently 5

Hebrews 12:1

Our middle child is on the school’s cross country team. Cross country races involve running a three-mile course across level fields, through woods, over streams, and up hills. The goal is to run these three miles as fast as you can and, of course, the first few runners at the finish line are cheered. But the praise does not end with the winners. Every person running is applauded as they cross the finish line, and sometimes the last one across receives the most applause.

Why are all the runners congratulated, even the last one? They are shown the respect and appreciation of the crowd because they ran the race. They did it. It is great to see the first few runners complete the course so quickly, but it is equally satisfying to see every runner perform. No matter how hard the race is, no matter how often they may want to give up, participants in cross country press on. They perform consistently to the very end.

The author of Hebrews offers encouragement in our spiritual race. Who is with us? What are we to do?

As we face the challenges of our ministries we must remember that we are not alone in the work we will do for God’s kingdom. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. They are all the believers who have lived before us, all those faithful individuals who have worked so hard to serve God. Those witnesses are the people who founded your faith denomination. They are the people who built and funded your place of worship. They are the people who started ministries before you.

But they are also the people who will join with you in your ministry. They are those who offer assistance and prayers of support. And part of that great cloud of witnesses is God Himself, the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit, moving with you as you press on to accomplish good for the kingdom of God.

A well planned and well-intentioned ministry is pointless unless we are willing to perform. And we are called to be persistent and consistent in our performance of our good work.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How will you run the race marked out for you?

Perform Consistently 4

Philippians 3:12-14

One of my hobbies is collecting miniature Civil War figurines, painting them and mounting them on stands. My goal is to collect enough figurines to represent the Union Army of the Cumberland and the Confederate Army of the Tennessee. It is a long process to do this. I have been working on it diligently for about five years and I anticipate completing my goal about 10 years from now.

In his letter to the church at Philippi Paul addresses the attitude of going after a goal. What is his first comment about what he is doing? According to verse 13 where is he in the process? What is his attitude?

I would love to snap my fingers and achieve my goal in my hobby, but that is not going to happen. Will I reach my goal? I believe I will. But to do that I must work at it whenever I get the opportunity, going through the painstaking efforts involved, checking off what I have done, and planning for what I must do next.

The same is true of most ministries. Can we gather a few supplies and save souls in a matter of days? In some cases, yes, we can. But in most cases the work of God’s kingdom requires dedication, perseverance, planning and consistent performance.

It is tempting at times to give up. It is tempting at times to doubt ourselves and believe we can never really accomplish anything.

But, if we are to be in ministry – and we are – we are likely going to have to keep at the work. Making a difference in the world, helping the needy, building our church and its outreaches usually takes a long time and many people working toward the same goal. We will have setbacks from time to time, there is no doubt of that, but the best way to reach any goal is to perform the work. Keep at it. Keep doing the good deeds that make a difference.

Placing ourselves where God can use us, praying about our ministry, picturing what should be done, and planning the work are important. Let us not forget the final essential part – perform the work.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What can you do today?

Perform Consistently 2

2 Chronicles 34:29-31

I have had parents lament to me about how difficult it is to raise children, especially in trying to have them follow the rules set up in the household. That is part of parenthood – to set the rules, enforce the rules, and live by the rules yourself. I believe consistent obedience of the rules and enforcement of the rules can help make a happy home.

Like parenting, if we are to have faith in God and we are to be Christians, then we need to be consistent in the performance of our ministries and consistent in performing as Christians. Our faith and our ministry cannot be something that is only a convenience to us. We must be faithful to God all the time.

The passage today is from the story of Josiah, a king among the Israelites. Who did Josiah call together? What did he do with them? What did the king renew?

Josiah became king when he was only eight years old, but even at that age he knew he had to perform as a faithful son of David. When still a young man he learned that his people had strayed from God’s commands. Grieved by this Josiah pledged himself and his people to the service of God.

Josiah had sweeping reforms in his land, eliminating all those who were not faithful to God. He saw that he and all those under him needed to perform as faithful believers. They needed to pledge themselves to God and remain dedicated to His ways.

We can take a lesson from this young ruler. If we will call ourselves Christians then we need to perform as Christians. We need to act as Christians and true believers under God, and that behavior needs to happen all the time.

If we feel we have strayed from God or begun to do things that are not acceptable to the Lord, then we should re-commit ourselves to God. We should be dedicated to consistently performing our ministry.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How often do you perform the ministry of a Christian?