Complete what needs to be done!

Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Revelation 3: 2 

The Apostle John was writing to the church of Sardis, one of seven churches he wrote to in modern day Turkey. He starts by telling them they appear alive but are in actual fact dead and they have not completed that which God has asked them to do. He tells them to remember what they have received and heard and they need to obey it and repent or else God may come as a thief in the night and visit them unexpectedly.

I am convinced as I get older that there are just not enough hours in the day to do everything I would like to do. I don’t seem to have enough time to read the books I would like to read, listen to the radio or to music or watch the television or films that seem really good. Then there are all the spiritual things that never seem to get done; the people that need our prayers, the visits we ought to make, the bit more of the Bible we ought to read, let alone the meetings we ought to go to. Some people seem to achieve so much more with their lives than we manage. I marvel at the people who run businesses, write books, appear on TV and have a family life.

Our lives therefore end up being a set of choices of how we spend our time. So I am not surprised that God says to the church at Sardis that their deeds were not complete in his sight. The church at Sardis though seemed to be living in denial appearing to be alive when in actual fact dead. God was taking them to task for not completing the things he had asked them to do and yet pretending all was well.

We do not know what God has called others to do but we do know there is a grace on our lives to do what God has called us to complete. Today, if there are outstanding things that you know God has asked you to do, even if it is to make a phone call, or send an e mail let’s get them done. They may not be world shattering important events but they may make a great difference to someone else's life. If your priorities seem to be pushing out some things you know really need doing, ask God to help you re-prioritise your life so you can get them done. Don’t have a life that looks good on the outside but is actually full of dead works. Instead have a life full of the vibrant Spirit of God touching all you do from the washing up to the board meeting. Whether our works are big or small, if they are God’s works they are important and what is really important is that they are completed.