My dad was on my mind the other day; he passed away in 2006. I sure do miss him. A lot of the time we spent together was in the front yard shooting baskets or throwing a baseball. I miss those times and the life lessons he tried to share with me. Like most teenage boys, some of those lessons stuck better than others. And some of those lessons didn’t take hold until I was old enough to recognize that maybe I didn’t know everything.

One lesson my father regularly emphasized was how important it is to do our best. He told me one time, “Son, if you are playing a basketball game and you don’t leave the game with at least three fouls, you probably didn’t push yourself and take enough chances. Work hard when you’re working and play hard when you’re playing. You can’t always be the best, but you can always do your best.” When I think of the level of effort he was describing, I think of Paul’s words in Colossians 3:23 where Paul wrote to the church,

“Whatever you do, do it with all your heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people.” Colossians 3:23

Paul was encouraging followers of Christ to always do their best. And why wouldn’t we do our best? After all, we have received the best! God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Son so that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life. As Christians, we have received the best! We have received the love, the mercy, and the grace of God. We know of His goodness, His kindness, and His provision. We have received the best and we should offer our best in every task, every relationship and in the midst of every circumstance.

Certainly, we will make some mistakes and we will have our “fouls” along the way, but that does not mean we should not try hard, push ourselves and offer our best in everything and every situation. As followers of Christ, we are to represent the Lord and we do not want to provide a poor or inaccurate representation.