faith unfaded

I got Steve Harvey’d the other day.

Remember ten years ago when the popular host read off the wrong name at the Miss Universe pageant? For about a minute, Miss Colombia basked in her win before he announced there’d been a mix-up and Miss Philippines was the actual winner.

While Miss Philippines was elated, Miss Colombia was devastated.

I can’t say I was devastated but I did experience the disappointment after an immediate high when I opened an email from a poetry contest I’d entered.

“Congratulations,” it started. “Your poems were selected…” I picked up the phone to call my middle daughter, Kelsey. She’d gone with me to the ceremony last year, intending to film my presentation. She somehow missed the record button and it only started filming as she hit what she thought was ending it as I walked back to my seat.

I’d assured her it was no big deal and we comically staged photos after the ceremony but I knew I would tease her this year about getting more than me returning to my seat.

A lot can run through your mind in less than 60 seconds because in the same amount of time it took Miss Colombia to receive and lose her crown, I realized it wasn’t my name on the email.

They’d mistakenly sent me someone else’s congratulatory letter!

As disappointed as I was, I couldn’t be too upset. I knew my submissions were average at best. The deadline was fast approaching and, though I know I have some writing talent, the only poetry that comes from my deep within my soul is anguished poetry. That’s just not where I am right now.

But I wanted the reward so I gave it minimal effort. The recognition- or lack thereof- equaled the effort.

This is a great picture of our walk with the Lord.

Are we just phoning it in, hoping He will still reward us in the end?

Are we only giving Him our all when we are turmoil, forgetting our need for Him as each crisis ends?

Your name is written in the Book of Life…or it isn’t. Will He call your name?

His judgment will come immediately. There will be no time, not even 60 seconds, for a reversal. You will hear “Well done, my good and faithful servant” or “Depart from Me, I never knew you.”

He won’t be the one making the mistake. But if you are merely paying lip service as a Christian, you will be making the biggest mistake of all.