Following On

Succeeding means that you tried harder than the other guy, right? We often hang a poster of the ten Commandments as a list of the top ten rules of the Christian faith, and if we fail to live up to one of them we make a personal commitment to follow the rules even harder.

I recently read an unrealistic classified ad in the job section of the newspaper. This company was looking for, “A part-time virtual receptionist for a slow office. You will be available 40 hours per week, but will only be working a few hours per week. Hours will increase as the practice becomes busier. This is a work from home position. You will be answering the phones, getting demographic information, and inputting this information and insurance information into the system. Maximum pay will be $100 per week.”

So, you have to clear your entire week in case they want you to work on any given day. On one week they want you on Monday. The next week they might want you Tuesday and Thursday.  Some weeks will require 20 hours per week and other weeks will only require five.

How can you live like that? You can’t have another job because you don’t have a regular schedule. They want you to clear 40 hours per week, but are only willing to pay a total of $100.

This company proferred an unrealistic expectation. They demanded you follow a set of rules they would never select for themselves. Follow our ridiculous rules and we will give you $100 per week.

Sometimes we have unrealistic expectations of ourselves. We have this idea that being Christian is about following the Bible’s rules. But in Galatians 3:11 the apostle Paul writes, “No one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” 

We demand from ourselves that we be good enough. I have to follow the rules.  I have to try harder.  However, the apostle Paul says you can’t work your way into heaven. It’s not about how hard you’re trying. Being right with God comes by trusting Jesus and listening to him.

So stop beating yourself up for what you failed to do. Instead, trust Jesus to do for you and in you the thing you can’t do by yourself.