Did We Do The Work?

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May 20, 2004

II Timothy 4:6-8

For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at

hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept

the faith; Henceforth there is a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,

the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but

unto all them also that love his appearing.

On Sunday, we were privileged to hear a sermon entitled Die Empty.

The message really moved me to think about what that means in relation to

the verses above. Let's look at the life of Paul as an example. He

states that he knows his time has come and he is prepared. He has stayed in

the battle and finished the race. He did not waiver in his beliefs. He

knows there is a reward in heaven for him based on his perseverance. When

we near the end of our lives, will we be able to make those same

statements truthfully?

As we each think about that, let us also remember that Paul also

challenged each of us to "walk worthy in our vocation". Our vocation is as simple

as what we do for Christ, whether the job is mother, father, teacher,

lawyer, brother, sister, salesman, engineer, architect, bus driver, conductor,

musician or artist. In order to "Die Empty", we must strive to be

complete. The effort to complete our work will pull us out of our

comfort zone - where we just "check a task off our list" -and move us to

actually effect change in our world. Answering the question, "Did We Do the

Work?"

becomes easier as we see the changes that result from each of us

performing our vocation well. Make sure that when we are ready to see the King

of kings, that we have run the race well - and completely - all the way to

the finish.

Be Encouraged

Martin A. Rayner

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