United Church of God

Letter From Devin Schulz - April 12, 2019

Letter From Devin Schulz

April 12, 2019

Several years ago, I worked at an organization called the Paul Mueller Company. The man who founded the company named it after himself because he believed that a person's reputation was of the utmost importance. Though the business started small in the early 1940's, over the next several decades, it experienced tremendous growth. This was due in large part to Mr. Mueller's devotion to quality.

In my time at the company I heard a story about an incident that occurred after the business had become quite successful. Even though Mr. Mueller was now running a multimillion dollar organization, he still liked to walk in the shop and see the products being built. One day he came upon a worker who was rushing to do some finishing work on a product that was late to ship. When the worker had completed his final task, he was about to put on the "Paul Mueller Company" logo and send the item to the customer. Mr. Mueller seeing this take place was not pleased with the quality of work that had been done. He walked up to the worker, removed the logo that had been applied, and simply stated "you may be comfortable putting your name on this, but you won't put mine on it."

This story exemplifies our responsibility to always do our best work. This is the sentiment expressed in the oft quoted Ecclesiastes 9:10 "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going." This verse is both exhortative as well as encouraging, especially in this final week before Passover.

Certainly, the reminder is there that we should strive for excellence in all that we do.  Solomon's exhortation is in relation to the temporary nature of this life. We only have a short time on this earth and we need to make sure we are making the most of what time we do have. Paul adds to this in the New Testament "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ." (Colossians 3:23-24). Not only do we have a limited amount of time in this life, but what we do is in service to God. The work we put forth as "ambassadors for Christ" reflects on the name of God. Do we have the confidence to put not only our name on our works, but also God's name?

This responsibility may seem daunting, but it is also encouraging. The truth is that we all have varying skill levels at any given undertaking. What if we find ourselves lacking in a skill or with some physical ailment that prevents us from having the same yield as others, does God expect the same output no matter what? The beauty of what God is doing is that He can work with us regardless of our aptitude, as long we have an attitude willing to give each task our maximum effort. God does not expect us to accomplish something outside of our abilities, but He does expect us to give our all no matter what. God grants us gifts and talents to varying degrees, but to the level we have been blessed with a talent, we then have the responsibility to bear fruit comparable to what we've received (Matthew 25:14-30).

As we close out our preparation for Passover and the Feat of Unleavened Bread, have we been doing the best with what God has bestowed upon each of us and bring glory to our Father in Heaven? We have the exhortation to strive for perfection, and the encouragement that no matter where we find ourselves, God can produce fruit in our lives.

Wish you all an edifying Sabbath!

Devin Schulz