Give it your all

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

Charlie Marquardt, 23, was on pace to break 4 minutes in the mile for the first time in his life at the Adrian Martinez Classic in Concord, Massachusetts, on June 7 when he said, "I started to lean over those last steps and one of my legs just didn't function right." That led to his foot catching the track and him somersaulting and slamming into the track surface as he broke the tape. He won the race but finished with a time of 4:00.38, which was just short of putting him on the list of U.S. runners who have broken the 4-minute mile. Despite the pain he suffered from the fall, Charlie said he gave the race everything he had and will try to break the barrier again this summer. 

You know, when it comes to giving everything we have, whether it be on the racecourse, in the workplace or in our homes, the Bible is clear that we are “work at it with” all our hearts, "as working for the Lord, not for human masters" since we know that we "will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward." In other words, whatever job or task God has given us to do, we should do it wholeheartedly, joyfully and to the absolute best of our abilities--remembering that when we are working and serving others, it is ultimately "the Lord Christ" we are serving. 

Martin Luther sums it up this way, "What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow." So would you say you were zealous in your workplace and home today? Serving not by mere force and necessity or grudgingly, but from the heart, and with love and good will? The answer to that is so important my friend. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder that everything we do is ultimately done for You and that we should never give anything less than our best to our employer, our church or our family. In whatever You have called us to Lord, let us work at it with our whole hearts that others might come to know You because of it. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

Do everything - Steven Curtis Chapman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVTeIMursb8