Recently I heard a mom tell another kid’s dad that his son didn’t need to press very hard at baseball practice. “It’s the off-season,” she said. “You can push him during the Spring season. It’s not like practicing NOW is going to make a difference THEN.”
Now, I’ve seen some really unbalanced dads in our Little League experience. Some grown men want to live vicariously through their sons, and the older they get the better they were back then and the better their stories get.
But this dad was just telling his son to do his best. He was telling his kid that whether it was July or April, he should try his hardest at whatever he’s doing.
Kudo’s to the dad, and to the mom: get your nose out of other people’s way of raising their kids.
Do everything as if you’re doing it for the Lord. That’s what the Bible says anyway. My first job was at a fast food restaurant, and let me tell you — I washed some dishes! And the sink was built low to the floor, and I was already tall, so for the first couple weeks I ALWAYS had a backache. But the thing that helped me get through hours of washing dishes was this: God was watching.
I didn’t take short cuts. I washed every inch of every pan as if Jesus was coming to eat tomorrow and if I didn’t get it clean, He could get ptomaine poisoning or something. It’s easy to just wipe something clean, or rinse the visible stuff off, but I WASHED the dishes.
The three things most successful ministers say help them do the best in ministry are these:
1) Get enough rest;
2) Get enough exercise;
3) Eat right.
It doesn’t say anything about spending 6 hours a day praying in the Spirit, or reading 5 hours a day digging into the Word, or 7 hours a week ministering to widows and orphans. It says eat right, exercise, and get some rest. Very spiritual, huh?
Yes! Doing the mundane and boring things in a Godly fashion bring glory to Him. It’s not up to you and me to decide that He definitely gets glory; that’s up to Him. All you and I can do is actually do things as if He is our Boss. It sure would bring our performances up a notch or three, huh?
Wash the dishes like He is eating off of them. Rest as if you are going for a walk with Him in the morning. Drive as if He is in the car with you.
Because He is.
