“You show me any athlete at any level who gives maximum effort, and I will show you a player who will excel. It is not a matter of talent. It’s not a question of where you went in the draft. The question is do you have the heart of a champion? And at the heart of every champion I have ever coached is a dedicated effort to be the absolute best you can be. Results are important. But results don’t define who you are as a man. Success is not being a first-round draft pick. Success is using your God-given ability to give maximum effort every day—whether you’re in the NFL, teach school, or work construction.”
– Rick Rigsby, Lessons From a Third Grade Dropout
Each morning he gets up and goes to work. After punching the time clock he will spend the next eight hours being attentive and doing his very best. He stocks the shelves. He cleans the floors. He tells customers where they can find whatever it is they’re looking for. He will never be the CEO of the company. His career ceiling is usually met within the first decade of his employment there.
Three years ago when the world basically shut down because of the pandemic, Bob was a rockstar. He was the guy who picked your groceries from the shelves and prepared your orders for curbside pickup. He was considered an essential worker, just like the nurses and doctors at the local hospital! Today, he’s back to being a faithful nobody; a nameless, trivial store clerk who shows up to work every day and stocks shelves.
But Bob has a couple of things that very few people seem to have today: a faithful work ethic and contentment.
Isn’t this where most of us fight our greatest battles in life? Finding a way to be content in the most mundane of everyday circumstances? To find purpose in something as seemingly trivial as stocking a shelf or telling someone where they can find the spaghetti sauce? Isn’t this where most of us live our lives each day, these periods that are without excitement or drama? This place where we struggle to find peace and contentment just being where we’re supposed to be and doing what we’re supposed to be doing?
This doesn’t come naturally for most of us. It takes a strong character, someone with a willingness to embrace the mundane instead of instinctively trying to find something more exciting to occupy our minds.
And most days, this is what following Christ looks like for Christians; just faithful, behind-the-scenes obedience and a sincere appreciation for all that Christ has done for us. Like Tabitha the coat maker that the apostle Luke briefly talks about in the 9th chapter of Acts, or Epaphras the prayer warrior that the apostle Paul talks about in Colossians, chapter four.
Not everyone can be a titan of industry. But everyone can be a Tabitha, an Epaphras, or a Bob the shelf stocker.
Today’s Question: Am I living to make an impression, or am I living to make an impact?
Former Blackout Artist 