Doing our best

Former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, said,

"It's no use saying, We are doing our best. You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary."

I love that quote! This is applicable to Christian living and service. The first priority for the Christian is not to "do our best." It is to obey God. Here's what I mean...

God told Jonah to go to Ninevah. If Jonah had gone to Tarshish instead and "done his best," would that have been acceptable to God? No. God wanted Jonah in Ninevah. He wasn't looking for Jonah to "do his best" somewhere else.

If God tells a Christian to go as a missionary to Thailand, and instead they start a Christian band and travel all over Australia performing concerts, "doing their best" for Jesus, will God accept that?

Our priority is not to do our best. It is to obey the Lord. The prophet Samuel told King Saul, "To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Sam. 15:22). We can spend a lot of time and energy doing something other than what God has called us to do, and end up accumulating a big heap of wood, hay, and straw (1 Cor. 3:12).

May we devote ourselves to obeying God, not "doing our best" at something else.