When is sushi "good enough" and its time to move on?
Transcript
[Darris McNeely] I was reading this article in the Financial Times that was describing the work ethic of a Japanese fish restaurateur. He's 85 years old and for 75 years - since he was 10 years of age - for 75 years this gentleman has been making sushi, which is essentially a combination of some type of fish and rice put together in exotic combinations. He has an award winning restaurant in Tokyo. He's training his sons and has been for decades to replace him.
As I said, he's 85 years old and he still doesn't feel, after all of these years, that he has reached the pinnacle of his profession. He says, "I'll continue to climb until I reach the top, but no one knows where the top is." I appreciate the man's work ethic. Perhaps I don't always appreciate every form of sushi, but as I was reading this article and recognizing the years and the effort and labor this man has put into making what he must want in his restaurant to be the perfect sushi, I wonder perhaps if the priorities and the approach is a little bit misguided.
Now I know that Ecclesiastes 9:10 says that whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with all of your might. And that is a very solid principle for life, and for work, and for accomplishment. But also I think that we also have to temper that with the work that we're doing as opposed to the ultimate goal of life because there's another scripture, Matthew 6:33, that tells us to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
And so the Kingdom of God is the most important of goals according to what Christ said. It is the ultimate. It is the end in that sense and it should guide and direct everything else that we do.
The putting together of fish and rice into a concoction, into a meal for everyone certainly is a noble goal and a noble work ethic. But is it the most important to require that type of dedication? What if this gentleman channeled those energies, that devotion, that dedication to achieving first the Kingdom of God, what might open up in His mind and in his life?
What might open up in ours if we put God's Kingdom first as our ultimate goal and even how that might apply to the accomplishments of our own particular jobs? Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things will be added to us, all other things of value.
