A Pause to Ponder God's Word
"Good Enough?"

It was one of those wet snowstorms; the ones that don’t produce a lot of inches but the few inches we do get are heavy to shovel. I was out shoveling when I heard my neighbor from across the street call to me; "Hi Gerry, don’t do such a complete job you’re making me look bad. All I need is two paths for the car wheels so I can get out of the driveway." We both chuckled and went back to our respective tasks. My mind went back to my days in road construction when the phrase, "good enough for government work" was all too familiar. Do "just good enough" to pass inspection, "just good enough" to get by. How often I have had students that do "just good enough" to get a passing grade when they are fully capable of achieving much more. Our society fosters a good enough life ethic. As I continued to ponder this short humorous conversation with my neighbor I couldn’t help but think that this is the way many approach their life in Christ; they live with a "just enough" attitude.

Scripture paints a completely different picture of the disciple of Christ. The Scriptural imperatives call us to nothing less than a complete, total radical commitment to Christ evidenced by an all out effort to live for Him according to His will. There really isn’t any "good enough" when it comes to living for Jesus. "I do not run aimlessly; I do not beat the air like a shadow boxer. No, I pummel my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others I myself will not be disqualified." (1 Corinthians 9: 26-27) shouts the Apostle Paul. Scripture entreats us to "forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead, pressing on to take hold of that which Christ Jesus has taken hold of us." (Philippians 3:13). Jesus set the standard and gave us the example, not grasping His equality with God but emptying Himself He became a slave, and was obedient unto death. (Philippians 2: 5-8) "My food," Jesus said, "is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work." (John 3:34)

The holy life is a demanding 24/7 life requiring effort that is possible only with divine enablement. There is no "just good enough" in this life. Christ’s love for us, our love for Him and His love in us will not allow us to settle for "good enough." Rather it compels us and thrusts us into an all out commitment, offering our bodies as living sacrifices unto God. It is time for us to break out of the "good enough" mold of this world and be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we have the very mind of Christ. Life’s sustenance is found in doing the will of the Father and being involved in His work. His will and work require more than good enough; it requires a divinely enabled all out effort, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.

Beloved let us make "All for Jesus" more than a song title or a quaint slogan or a snappy bumper sticker. Let us live ALL FOR JESUS by the power of His Spirit!

Keep Close to Jesus

Pastor Gerry