a revelation from Paul Fronda
... a master sculptor was contracted to fashion a large statue. after completing the front of the statue, he proceeded to chisel the back with equal painstaking care. his son, looked on, and asked, "the statue will be standing against a wall anyway, why bother with the back?.. nobody will ever get to see it." to which the sculptor replied, "ah but god will see it.
" OUR WORK SHOULD BE A REFLECTION OF OUR BELIEFS ABOUT GOD
1. god is an excellent worker
have you ever felt pride for a job well done? it can be for delivering a superb instumental solo or exceeding a sales quota. if so, then you had a glimpse of the satisfaction god felt after creating the universe.
the bible kicks off with an unapologetic declaration "in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth..." (gen1:1) then we read what happened next, god saw what he had created as"good" (vv 3,10,12,18,21,25) when he was finished on the sixth day, he saw it only not as "good", but "very good"
god is a master craftsman; just marvel at the intricated design of the human body, the clockwork precision of the solar system and the breathtaking splendor of nature for you to believe this statement.
his son was also lauded for excellence, because at one point, in jesus' earthly ministry, the people exclaimed, "he has done everything well." (mark 7:37)
an outstanding leader should also inspire outstanding perfromance from his followers. thus, on a grander scale, a fresh vision of god's excellance should stir emotions within us: awe for his perfect work, the desire to reflect his excellence and shame for shoddy work. jesus set the standard, 'therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect. " (mat. 5:48) ..so the next time you ask yourself, "why be excellent?" .. you know the answer, because god is excellent.
2. god is glorified by excellence
an athlete trained long and hard for the olympics and giving his best won the gold medal for his country. this athlete enjoyed the glory of his victory which arose from his desire for excellence. his country too, shared in the glory of having such a world-class athlete.
excellence and glory go hand-in-hand. god is glorified in his excellence. the universe that he had created speaks of his glory (ps. 19:1) jesus' own earthly ministry on earth gave glory to his father, like when he healed the paralytic (mat.9:8). in the same way, when we render high-quality service, we glorify him - god, (mat. 5:16, 1pet. 2:12). the apostle paul tells us that "whatever we do ... we should do it for the glory of god (1cor.10:31)
are you zealous for god's glory? do not limit it to sunday worship but extend it through terrific work from monday to saturday.
3. god is our ultimate master
... let's say that god appers befor you and give you a special assignment. would'nt you leap on your feet, count it as an ultimate priveledge and do your outmost to fulfill four task? guess what? he had already given you a special assignment; wherever you are now, be it in the office, laboratory, factory, pier, call cente, hospital, band ... wherever you are working.
one antidote to being disheartened in your job is to look beyond your problematic circumstances and see the excellent, glorious god as the final reciepient of your work. the apostle paul instructs, "whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the lord, not for men... it is the lord christ that you are serving (col.3:22-24)." our true boss is the king of kings and the lord of lords, who deserves no less than our best.
4. god rewards excellence
someday, our ultimate master will give us a "performance appraisal." this isn't to deteremine wheter we will go to heaven or not or not because that has already been settled when we put our trust in christ as our personal lord and saviour. rather, this is to determine what rewards god will give us (2cor.5:10).
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