Thank You, Father, today was a much better day than yesterday. I have been more in step with You and that’s the way I like it, too!
Romans 6:15-23 (<<click here to read the passage)
When you were in school did you ever have a partner in some project or lab assignment that could not have cared any less about the whole thing? There were things that had to be accomplished and you ended up doing everything because they had no interest in doing anything. To say their attempts were halfhearted would have been the understatement of the year!
People who succeed in life, those who are at the top of their game or their field, give it all they’ve got. Whether it’s in athletics, the arts, or the business world. Those who wholeheartedly give of themselves are the ones who are victorious.
Top-notch athletes in any field of play didn’t get there because they were good-looking or because they knew somebody, they got there because they worked hard and pushed themselves to be the very best they could be. Early morning hours before school, and grueling practicing until way after dark, were the norm.
The same can be said for musicians. One does not become the first chair of any instrument without hours of practice. Listening to those who would teach them and again pushing themselves to the limits of mental and physical fatigue to get all the nuances of that particular musical piece just right, was how they got to the place where opportunities became available to them. Good wasn’t good enough, they had to be the best – halfhearted efforts get you nowhere.
I would say that many of those things would require a certain amount of raw talent with which to work. But what about our relationships with God? Reading verses 16-17 can you honestly lay claim to the very last phrase?

Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. NLT

Firstly, no “talent” is required. No one has a leg up on anyone else. Just because I was raised in a Christian home, just because I am an ordained elder and pastor churches, doesn’t make me special. Yes, I have a fair amount of experience, but if my relationship with God is shallow or non-existent – if I live out my relationship halfheartedly – a newly converted follower of Christ would be leagues ahead of me. Their relationship would be vibrant and impacting on themselves and others.
I could have all kinds of head knowledge but if I am not wholeheartedly obeying the teaching given me, it amounts to absolutely nothing.
May we be driven to invest our lives into our relationship with God. May we read, may we study, may we pray, may we listen to things that draw us to God and not things that build a wall between us. And the most wonderful thing of all is that it can all be done right in the middle of life. We don’t have to hole up in a monastery. We just need to pray and ask for the Holy Spirit’s infilling and His direction. And those prayers will surely be answered!

Jan 10th, 2023, Tues, 5:00 pm