It’s Friday… Don’t Fear Failure

Baseball season is here. I’m a huge fan. Most of the players in MLB dreamed of playing in the big leagues. All through their high school years, they trained for hours a day. They maintained a strict diet, a rigid exercise program, and top-of-the-line equipment. They watched countless games and took every opportunity to speak with coaches and professional players, learning the various nuances of game situations. They were preparing for the day when their talent would be measured.

In much of the same way, that’s what followers of Jesus Christ must do. We aren’t quite so performance oriented; Jesus isn’t going to base His judgments on raw talent and training regimens. He will be looking more for how the heart has been shaped and the fruit it has borne. As an aspiring baseball player assumed all the characteristics of a big-leaguer long before his opportunity to be one, we are to assume all the characteristics of a citizen of the Kingdom of God long before the Kingdom is made visible. Our identity is shaped by who we want to be. Or, better yet, by who we want to be like.

That’s the sort of thing we will give an account for. We will have to explain what we did with what we were given. We will be shown the profitability of our eternal investments, and if they are lacking, we will have to confess why. Our entire lives as followers of Jesus are leading up to a final assessment.

“Each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.” (Romans 14:12)

That’s sobering. Jesus once told His disciples that everyone would have to give an account for every idle word (Matthew 12:36), and He told parables about making the most of The Master’s resources. Those who are steeped in grace are joined into diligence by such words. We know we aren’t saved by our works, but we learned that our salvation is to produce a lot of them. According to Jesus fruit matters.

Let’s live our lives in view of the final accounting. Don’t Fear Failure; God is full of mercy. Rather, let’s fear the kind of caution that buries God’s gifts. Let’s take risks in faith and sow seeds liberally. Let’s tell Jesus we gave it everything we had.

Have a fearless weekend. Make it better by worshiping with others who are living their lives in confidence right now, in preparation for that final accounting with our Savior then.

All For Jesus – Nothing More, Nothing Less, Nothing Else.

“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, The King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16)