Main Title: Do Your Best

By Pastor Michael Magbag

Scripture

2 Timothy 2:15-25
New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. ¹⁶ Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. ¹⁷ Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

²⁰ In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. ²¹ Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

²² Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²³ Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. ²⁴ And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. ²⁵ Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,

Half-hearted, indifferent, lazy, unmotivated, uninvolved people are everywhere. You see them in the stores, shops, government offices, on the street and sometimes (gasp!) in church. These folks are the kind who do a little bit of work, but they don’t do it well. They show up for work and collect their salary, but they never really “work". They don’t want to sweat. The don’t want to put in extra time. They don’t want to go the second mile  or make that extra effort.

The sad thing is this: they are losers. 

That’s right. They lose. 

They lose all the good things in life. Why? Because all of the good things in life will cost you something. 

All meaningful relationships cost you a lot of effort, energy and personal sacrifice. No one has a successful rewarding relationship without putting in some time and hard work.
All meaningful job-related work also costs effort, energy, and personal sacrifice. No one really achieves on their job if they just give it the minimum. 

So these folks lose...and lose...and lose.

Personal faith is no different. Some people have given their life for their faith. It cost them everything but they gained it all!

Sadly, many folks just don’t care much. They rarely read their Bible, only pray when they are in trouble, never show up for church on time- or not at all!- and then when they so get there, they are inconsistent.

Life in some ways is very fair. It always returns to us what we have invested. Yes, good people may experience bad things, but their habit of sowing good consistent actions will turn those bad things into good experiences.

How about your life? What effort are you putting into your life? 
You have much more control over your destiny than you think. Do your best. You can make a difference!