“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.”
This quote has been around for a long time, and it reflects an approach we should all take to heart. Jesus Christ said something similar:
“So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do’” (Luke 17:10).
How, then, can we become profitable servants of God? First, we must be doing those things which are required of us. Without this foundation we cannot progress. As Christians, we should be firmly established in the “elementary principles” (compare Hebrew 5:12-14; 6:1-2).
How we build on this Way of Life—Christianity—will determine our reward in the eternal Kingdom of God. This kind of judgment is portrayed in the parable of the talents, as Jesus explained in Matthew 25, verses 14-30. Note how Jesus addresses those who do the best job and those who don’t even try:
“‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away’” (Matthew 25:29; 13:12).
If we want to do the best we can, is there a key we should use—a way in which we can accomplish the superlative in our calling from God? Solomon answered this way: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
Let’s not become content thinking about how much we have been doing already. Nor should we compare ourselves feeling we are doing more than others. Rather, let us ask God the Father to help us do the most we can as we follow the lead of Jesus Christ.
