New Reminders: Achievement

When we think of achievements, we usually think of something accomplished, especially by superior ability, special effort, great courage, with great or heroic deeds.  But there are simple accomplishments that we achieve every day that we don’t always give ourselves, or others, full credit for.  We care for our pets, our children, our homes, our cars and sometimes extended families such as parents, grandparents or siblings.  These are often ongoing, repeated accomplishments that we tend to take for granted, but are some of the most important things we can do.  Beyond that, we do our jobs, and tend to the things we are responsible for each day.  Great achievements, like finding a cure for cancer or winning a Nobel Peace Prize are not realistic goals for most people.

Setting reasonable, achievable goals and doing our best to plan for and reach them are just as heroic in the everyday world most of us live in.  Most of us are capable of, and are willing to go above and beyond, when a situation arises that calls for extra effort, courage and decisive action, but such situations rarely present themselves, unless we have a job as an emergency worker.  Most of us are ordinary citizens who gave up our childhood dreams of becoming famous for whatever we thought we might achieve and accepted the more mundane, but fulfilling, lives we lead today.  The key word being fulfilling.  If we don’t feel like we are fulfilling our purpose in life, it may be time to reassess and prayerfully considered what God might have in mind for us.

It could be, that we need to change our attitudes about what we are doing and give ourselves credit for what we have done, or there might be something we can do differently to achieve something important.  God did not call Simon and Andrew away from their lives as fishermen because they weren’t very good fishermen.  He called them because he had a different purpose in mind for them.  

The Bible tells us that, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:14   What that means is that the gospel calls us all to be God’s messengers to nonbelievers and to bring God’s good news to those we encounter.  It does not mean that we should all quit our jobs and try to become full-time pastors, missionaries, or evangelists.  We are not all suited to those professions.  It simply means that we should demonstrate, with our loving words and actions, that we are Christians who are blessed to know Jesus as our savior and are content to serve in whatever capacity the Holy Spirit leads us, whether as someone famous or as a humble servant.