When we live our lives without maintaining the sort of standard that God Himself demands of us, then we risk being unable to achieve anything at all…
The other day I was speaking with a colleague who was surprised that she had achieved a great result in the last couple of months. When we were speaking we discussed the trajectory of her journey. After all, she had started in a very awkward position and had very quickly improved her performance and her approach so that eventually she was able to achieve a very prestigious award.
And when we spoke she was extremely impressed, that she had been able to achieve this result. My response was to congratulate her on this achievement, and then to encourage her to keep up the good work. Now, when I mentioned the necessity of maintaining a high standard of work, this friend of mine because suddenly very worried. She was concerned that if she had to continue to work hard that it would be quite exhausting and almost unachievable to continue in this capacity…
And my response was unwavering. Yes, of course it would be. That is the whole point. If something is easy, it is rarely worthwhile. It is easy – for example – to spend a day sitting in front of a television or computer screen watching movies or social media and achieving nothing at all. It is more difficult to remain productive and efficient. It is even more difficult to remain efficient and productive in a way that would ensure that many other people would be able to do business in a productive and efficient manner.
And I have been thinking about this – this standard – as I have been thinking about this life. Because when we live our lives without maintaining the sort of standard that God Himself demands of us, then we risk being unable to achieve anything at all…
You see, I was born so that I could know, love and praise God and be with Him forever in heaven. That is why God Himself created me and allowed my soul to be formed and born form my mother’s womb. And this means that unless I hold myself to a standard that will ensure that I can do these things then I will never be able to achieve them.
And that really means that everything was for nothing in that case.
And I have been thinking about that today, because it is DIFFICULT to maintain that standard. To know God, one must contemplate Him. And that contemplation means one must turn their thoughts away from the world and focus on God Himself. To love God means to embrace pain and suffering – for it is only through pain and suffering for the love of God that one can truly love. And to praise God one must be able to draw into Him and make sure that we are focused entirely on Him. After all, it is not praising God if we are only using one eye and half an ear to do it…
And I have been thinking about that today, as I have been thinking about how low my standard has been set…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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