December 18, 2017 - At The End You Should Be Spent

I’ve been on the road again… and now am sitting in the warmth of southern Florida and ready for some rest! The past couple of weeks have been beyond busy… as I have maintained my teaching schedule, spoken in a couple of chapel services, preached in 2 youth rallies, preached in church services in Alabama and Florida, and oh yeah… there is this thing called CHRISTmas coming up.

Yesterday, as I shared with a church in Daytona Beach, I confessed that I was excited to be there and sharing… but also excited for it to be over as I then would have a couple weeks free. It is not at all that I dislike getting to preach; in fact, I love preaching! Yet, when preaching I tend to pour my all into it, thus being worn out afterwards.

That is something I try as a coach to get across to players, that at the end you should be spent. In other words, if you have truly given your all in a game or practice you should be exhausted when the final buzzer/whistle goes off. I regularly tell them that sweet sleep is found in laying down at night knowing that one did all one could to be one’s best that day! Or as Coach Wooded used to say it, when one “makes each day a masterpiece.”

I am ready this week for some sweet sleep… how about you? That is a question for us daily as we evaluate what we have done for the Lord. Just last night I was talking with a dear friend that is a pastor; we both agreed that through the craziness of life it really only matters what one does for the Lord.. there is just too much uncertainty in everything else.

My prayer for each of us is that we would be able to say what the Apostle Paul stated at the end of his “season” of ministry. In his 2^nd letter to Timothy he tells Timothy, “6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

Get some sweet sleep this week… that will happen when you know you have given your all for the Lord in serving others. After all, this is the time of year we celebrate His giving His all to us!