Harbor Devotion

Harbor Family,

     What an awesome time it is to be serving the Lord.  I can't think of anything in this world I would rather be doing than Kingdom work.  It is hard work and often unpopular, but the reward at the end of the road is going to be worth all the effort. The Lord Himself told us that there would be hard times in life and especially in ministry.  He also let us know that we would not always be popular with everyone.  If He was persecuted (and He was), you and I as leaders are no bettter than our Lord; we too, will suffer persecution in this life and ministry.

Jesus demanded excellence from His leaders.  He said words like:

• 1 John 2:4-6 (NLT) 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
• Matthew 8:21-22 (NKJV) 21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." 22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
• Scholars tell me that it is possible that this disciple was not asking permission to go to his father's funeral but rather to put off following Jesus until his elderly father died.
• At other times Jesus spoke harsh words in ministry and his followers walked away and followed Him no more.

Commitment illustrated:  Some years ago in Northwestern University, near Chicago, a rescue crew was organized. Their purpose was the rescue of the drowning on the lake. One day the news came that a magnificent vessel was wrecked just off the shore. The young men hurried at once to the scene of the disaster, and plunged into the angry waters to rescue those who were going down. Soon they all returned, but one. Finally he came in bringing one man with him. Immediately he returned, and soon brought another, and then another, and so on until he had rescued ten. During this time his mates had built a fire and were warming themselves, all the time trying to persuade the young hero against his conviction of duty. By the time he had brought the tenth man he was completely exhausted, and had to rest for a while. Regaining sufficient strength, he again plunged into the water and brought another man. Now he was completely overcome. During the night he died from exposure. It was a sad scene. While friends stood around weeping, and his fellow students were regretting that they had not forced him to do as they had, he called one of them to his bedside, and said in a low subdued tone, just before he died:


"Did I do my best?"
Instantly his friend said: "Yes, I should think you did do your best. You saved eleven, but you have lost your life."  "But," said he, "did I do my best, my dead level best?"  "Yes, you did your dead level best."  Then a smile seemed to come over his face as if to say: "Then I am satisfied to die."

Oh, my friends, this will be something of our experience when we are in the presence of God in eternity! "Did I do my best, my dead level best?"

Richard A. Steele and Evelyn Stoner, comp., Bible Illustrations – Heartwarming Bible Illustrations, (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1998), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "234. Our Dead Level Best". 
 
This is the kind of commitment that Jesus talked about!!!
 
Michael D. Sanes
Pastor, The Harbor Worship Center