The Work of the Master

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."  Hebrews 12:2


My husband and I decided that we needed to update some things around the house.  Actually, I decided it - Nick was roped in to be the unpaid manual labor and subject matter expert (he even dragged his dad along for the fun).  As "we" began with the "little" jobs (we = them working and me noting approval or disapproval), we began to feel like we were on the HGTV show, Income Property.  It seems that every episode of that show goes the same way.  The host comes in, looks over the property, suggests some improvements and gives a cost estimate.  Then, about 20 minutes into the show, you hear the inevitable "Oh no!"  The host and his cadre of contractors have found something unexpected - corroded pipes, faulty wiring, mold - and the estimate skyrockets.

As soon as Nick and his dad started with replacing light fixtures, I heard the "Oh no!"  Apparently, the former owners of the home were quite savvy at "good enough" fixes.  They too had replaced light fixtures (and later we learned, appliances), but had done so in a more creative way (read: completely wrong and somewhat dangerous)!  Thank goodness my father-in-law is skilled with electricity and my husband is a stickler for doing things right.  Together, they redid the wiring, and installed my new lights - then my husband redid the wiring on the appliances and installed my new range and microwave hood.  Of course, all the jobs passed my quality inspection!

Though I will admit to being very frustrated in the process of some of these projects, in the end, I saw it as a learning point and it got me thinking.  As a Christian, how often do I opt for the "good enough" fix rather than really doing what God's word requires of me?  How many times have I started working in a ministry or a new study, but then allowed my fervor to wane when things were "good enough" only running back to God when the project (or my life) was a total mess?

Jesus is described in Romans as the "author and perfecter of our faith".  Not just the author - but the perfecter.  He doesn't start a good work and leave it for us to figure out.  No, He carries it out to completion ("[H]e who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6)  Can you imagine the mess if He started a good work in us and walked away? 

Consider my house -- a master electrician put in the original wiring, and it was good.  But he considered the job complete and moved on.  Later, others came along, wanting to make improvements, but without the skill of the master guiding them, what they ended up with was a "good enough" product that doesn't pass muster.  But had they turned to the master, fixing their eyes on him, and letting him guide them as they worked, what different results they would have had!

Jesus knew the potential in each one of us when, "for the joy set before him [he] endured the cross."  Who are we to take the work of the ultimate Master and muddle it into something that's only "good enough".  As Christians, we have the honor of going straight to the throne of the Master for his guidance... and even better, He's already paid the price for all of it. 

Lord, help me to avoid the pitfall of making things "good enough" and instead to seek you and your way in all I do - not just when things start to fall apart.