Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving (Col 3:23-24).

When we wrote our Family Mission Statement in 2007, one of our goals was to address character issues.  We have to be careful in this family, with our tendency to all or nothing thinking; we have to be careful not to be quitters.

Quitting on tasks, or people, or ourselves, or God can become a way of life.  And if you get stuck, thinking that you cannot “succeed” unless life goes a certain way, it is easy to get discouraged, and then, to quit. Today, I read the Parable of the Sower, because of a devotional I get in my inbox.  As I write this post now, I am reminded that the “soil of our heart” can determine our attitude toward life:

Sometimes we quit on our day before we even get out of bed – when it looks too hard, when you feel tired at the outset, or when your day’s plan is filled with a list of tasks (or people) that you dread, it is easier to quit: A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up (Matt 13:3-4).

Sometimes we quit in mid-stream.  Oh sure, we start a project with high hopes and good intentions, but when the going gets tough, we may decide to cut our losses before it gets ugly: Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root (Matt 13:5-6).

Sometimes we are determined to accomplish a goal, but we are discouraged by other people, who seem to work against us and we think, if other people are working against rather than with us, we can never succeed:  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants (Matt 13:7).

I am not sure all of you are old enough to remember the movie City Slickers.  But, it was a great movie, mainly because of an older supporting actor, the late Jack Palance.  He played a crusty old ranch hand, trying to give some “city slickers” a real cowboy experience at a dude ranch.  Things went a little wrong on their journey, and mayhem and hilarity ensued.  But this larger-than-life character tells an ordinary guy that life is all about…..”one thing.”  When pressed as to what that “one thing” is, Curly replies, “That’s what you’ve got to figure out.”  Classic!

So if I had to say what the “one thing” is, day in and day out…the thing that makes life, make sense, for me; it is found in today’s Memory Verse: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving (Col 3:23-24).

Keeping Him in mind when pursuing a task or serving people helps me to Pursue and Demonstrate Excellence (our third, of four Family Values).  Remembering that I am always serving Him, keeps me from being a quitter.  Persevering under trials, helps me to live a life that reflects my relationship with Him: Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown (Matt 13:8).

Jesus wants us to have a heart that is able to endure, and be at peace, regardless of our circumstances: I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

May our week be filled with the knowledge that, in everything, we are serving Jesus, and that He is Worthy!

Hugs,

Britta ~ I am justAgirl…just like you!