I was faced with some personal conflicts this week when people around me fell short of being Christians. When approaching them with their obvious lack of effort, their response was “‘I’m doing my best!”
This reminded me of a story about a friend trying to do his best…
I knew a good Christian man who went to have his hair cut one day. The barber talked about everything. The weather was fine, other people were going away on holiday, but, he grumbled, he had to stay to look after his shop.
To the barber’s surprise my friend said, “‘Now here is a fair offer. I promise to be at your shop tomorrow morning and you can take the day off and I will attend to your customers.”
The barber was surprised! He had never heard anybody make this suggestion before. “‘But sir,’ he said, ‘can you cut hair?” My friend replied, “Well, I’ve never done it before, but I’ll try hard, and I promise you I’ll do my best.”
The barber stood back and looked pretty blank for the moment and said, “But haircutting, sir, is a skilled job, you know.”
“I’m sure it is,’ my friend replied, ‘but I’ve told you, I’ll do my best.”
The barber then said, “It is very kind of you, sir, but I don’t want to lose all my customers, and you see, it’s not just a case of doing your best, it’s knowing how to do the job and doing it the right way that counts.”
“What?” said my friend, “‘are you not satisfied with my offer to do my best?”
“No, thank you,” said the barber.
Sometimes, our best just isn’t good enough. Our best falls short of other people’s expectations or in some cases, we end up hurting ourselves in the process.
The trick is to know what we’re doing is right. How do we accomplish this? By acting as Jesus would. If you are faced with a decision and choose to react as Jesus would, you are not only “doing your best” but you are most likely “doing it right!”.
Make a point to try a little harder in the days ahead, think a little more and “do the right thing.” Sure it’s more work but eventually, it will become a way of life and your way to Eternal life.
Let’s pray!
Father God;
We thank you for your blessings in our lives
For your unconditional love, your strength,
Your inspiration and your forgiveness.
Lord we ask that you continue to lead our footsteps
So that we can make the right decisions
In challenging times.
Lord we pray you will provide all we need
And surround us with your grace,
We pray you will bless our lives
And those of our families and our friends.
God we love you and thank you for all that surrounds us!
Praise God,
Amen!
This message was written by Daniel St.Pierre
Email: DanielStPierre@ThriveThroughChrist.com
