Is this all you have to give?

I take ballet. And it's hard.

Yesterday, ballet class was especially difficult. I hadn't danced since before Christmas, I was feeling under-the-weather (I hadn't eaten as much as usual either), and was just in general not wanting to give 100%. In fact, during the first part fifteen minutes or so, I was content to give 40% or 50% and just float through, enjoying the mild physical exercise, music, and social time.

After that, I started thinking about what it meant to give time to God. And I started praying, "God, this time is for you. This exercise is for you." I then proceeded to simply sort-of do the exercise--trying, of course, as hard as I could, without causing myself too much pain.

I felt like Jesus said to me, "I died for you. I gave you everything. And this is all you have to give me in return?"

I was shocked. Suddenly, I realized my error: Yes, my ability to dance, my dance classes, my love of dance, even the exercise we were doing were predestined, but God had given me the semblance of free will so that I could genuinely give Him everything. Not out of repayment, of course, since salvation is a gift, but out of gratitude. Shouldn't I be willing to go through a little pain so that I could perform better for my Savior, who was crucified for me? Since this is all I have to give, even though it is painful (and especially because it turns out to be), shouldn't I give it all?

After all, if your best friend saved your life from a man with a gun who was trying to kidnap you, wouldn't you want to give her your best? I'm pretty sure you would.

And if you suddenly found yourself in the golden courts of God in heaven, with thousands (or millions?) of angels all praising the Almighty Creator and millions (or billions?) of Christians joining in the praise, where everything is holy--and you were told that you would get to perform, on your own, for your King--wouldn't you do your absolute best?

Of course. And the same goes for our everyday lives. Performing arts, yes, but everything.


School.

Relationships.

Work.

Facebook.

How much effort would you put into these things if you were doing them in the presence and for the Lord Almighty?

Because you are, whether you realize it or not. Your chance is right now.....and it's real.


1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

Here's the divine paradox, however: As long as we are giving 100% and trying our best to do God's will, it's okay if we fall. He expects us to. We can never truly be perfect, but we must never be content with living in imperfection. We must learn to fight for God's best in every area of our lives, but remain constantly dependent on God's strength to do so. All along, we must be at peace with and overjoyed of the fact that God came to save us--that we could never, ever, ever attain perfection.

That's a lot to absorb.

Back to how this applies to giving 100%...

If you found yourself in God's heavenly courts, performing just for Him, and you made a glaring mistake, do you think He'd ask "Is this all you have to give Me?"
NO!
He would know that you were doing your best, and He would be overjoyed. He loves the "perfect" performance just as much as He loves the mistake-riddled, as long as both are equally earnest. The one shows His glory and holiness just as the other shows His grace and love.

So next time you do something (anything, according to Colossians 3:23), work at it "with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."
And next time you make a mistake on something you've done your best to prepare for, remember that God's power "is made perfect in weakness." (1 Corinthians 12:9)

One final warning: an over-focus on perfection can lead to a worship of perfection instead of worship of God. Your motivation and driving thought should always be Jesus at the cross, because there it is near impossible to be imbalanced. At the same time you see Him on the cross and want to thank Him, you realize your inability to ever repay Him.

(for a good book on that, read The Cross-Centered Life by CJ Mahaney)

:)
Thanks for reading! God bless!