Little Johnny drags his feet as he makes his way into the house. He tries to sneak the report card under a stack of magazines, but his mother catches him. She takes a quick look at the card and then stares at him sternly. “How did you manage to get two Cs and two Ds?” “I guess I didn’t have enough time to study,” Johnny whispers.
The report card told it all. The grades were the result of what Johnny did – or didn’t do that he should have. No matter what excuses he made, the report card held him accountable for his actions or lack of them.
Are You Failing?
What about your report card as a Christian? God doesn’t need to receive a record of how you have performed as a Christian, but if He got one, what would it say?
Would you get an A for Bible reading and church attendance? Maybe a B for prayer time. It might even be a B- for intercessory prayer. But what about doing for others? What kind of grade would you receive for reaching out in ministry? Do you help out on occasion when you have free time, but lack the discipline to do it on a regular basis? Maybe you volunteer during the big holiday seasons when churches get involved in community events.
Daily Accountability
But have you thought about what happens to those people between Christmas and Easter? How do the homeless, the abused, the neglected face the daily struggles with no one to help? It’s easy to be part of a group effort once or twice a year, but what about getting more involved? There are numerous efforts all over the nation that focus on being there whenever help is needed. Shouldn’t Christians have even more reason to get deeper involved than just feeding the homeless on Thanksgiving?
You often hear the adage “Jesus is the reason for the season” at Christmas, but isn’t He the reason for any season? Isn’t He our inspiration, our mentor for what we do day-to-day? His entire life was focused on ministry, on giving hope to those that had none. If He is the standard for an A+ how far short do we fall on the grading scale?
Just like Johnny, you can make all kinds of excuses about why you got the grade you did. You can say you didn’t have time or that you thought you did enough, but in the end it’s about being accountable for the things you should have done. Will God see an F on your report card or will He smile when he sees an A?
