Day 15: Colossians 3:23: MEDIOCRE LIVING AND THE GOOD ENOUGH MENTALITY

I am afraid there are too many of us who settle for mediocre living or doing life “just good enough.” We do not give our best to all we do.

We’re tired.

We’re too busy.

We just have the time.

We’re… Fill in the blank with a million other excuses.

This includes how we do in school, at work, in our marriage, raising children, with housework, etc. We just aren’t giving it our all.

Then, we stop and wonder why we aren’t happy. We feel like we’re missing something. It seems like no matter what we do, it just isn’t enough.

But, when was the last time we spent all day and night in the Word and in prayer? Or, were we too busy, too tired, lack the time, etc.

I guarantee if you live in the world today, you’ve been here done that. It might even be commonplace for you. I know it sure has been for me.

Why are we allowing ourselves to live these excuses? Why are we allowing ourselves to have a mediocre, good enough existence? Why are we not keep our priorities the priority?

And, then, how dare we be foolish to wonder why we aren’t happy, joyful, peaceful, fill in the blank. We are missing something. We are missing God and the Word. Again, we are meant to be in the Bible morning, noon, and night, 24/7/365. Look again at Psalm 1:2. And, we are to always be in prayer as well, rejoicing, and giving thanks. Look at this passage:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 HCSB

16 Rejoice always!

17 Pray constantly.

18 Give thanks in everything,

for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

-- HCSB: Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Why do we forget all of this? If we actually lived Psalm 1:2 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, wouldn’t our lives be a great deal easier, better, fulfilled, and complete? Wouldn’t we be happy, joyful, peaceful, and content?

If we stopped saying mediocre and good enough living was good enough, then we would see how little our lives really were, how shallow, and how they lacked meaning.

According to God, this kind of living is not good enough.

But, we know that, don’t we? Come on. We do. We just try to deny it or ignore it. After all, we’re too tired, busy, too… Fill in the blank…

We know there is a better way to live. So, why aren’t we living that way? I think there are two main reasons. One is we forget why we are living and why mediocre, good enough living isn’t enough. But, it’s also because we don’t keep our priorities straight or in order. We’ll talk about the latter tomorrow.

Why is mediocre, good enough living not good enough? Let’s look at the following verse to answer that question:

Colossians 3:23-25 NASB

23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. 25 For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.

PRAYER JOURNALING AND CONTEMPLATION QUESTIONS

Let’s look at some verses which should help us know what to pray and how to pray for the next year and our new beginning. With each verse listed after this section, prayer journal these 7 things about EACH version of this verse:

1 What jumped out at you and why?

2 What did you learn from this verse?

3 How did this verse differ from the others and how does that difference deepen your understanding of the verse?

4 What did God say to you through this verse?

5 What does this verse mean to you and your life today, this week, this month, this quarter, this year, etc.?

6 How will you apply this verse to your life from now on? Make an action plan.

7 Write out a summary of everything that you’ve learned and what jumps out at you most from your journaling and from the different versions of this verse, Psalm 90:12.

Colossians 3:23-24 NLT

23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.

-- NLT: Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.