February 6, 2016

“But he wanted to justify himself…….” Luke 10:27

I was an average basketball player but I wanted to be good.

I was a good baseball player but I wanted to be great.

I won the Senior Club Championship and was named Golfer of the Year at Pendleton Golf Club this year, so I must be pretty good. I think I could be very good if I had the time to practice and play more often but I will never be great.

If someone would have offered me the chance to be great in any of these sports I would accepted that offer in a heartbeat.

But the lawyer in this story illustrates that perhaps the greatest enemy to being great is being good.

Jesus was offering this man a chance at greatest but he just wanted to justify himself. In other words, he just wanted to feel good about himself and look good in the eyes of others. So he missed out on his offer of greatness.

Goodness can be comfortable but greatness requires you to stretch beyond your comfort zone. To be great you must be all in, as in “love God with ALL your heart, and ALL your soul, and ALL your strength and ALL your mind.”

You can’t be great if you try to justify half-heartedness.

You can’t be great if you try to justify offering some of your soul.

You can’t be great if you try to justify investing most of your strength.

You can’t be great if you try to justify having a preoccupied mind.

You must be willing to be all in if you want God to bring out His greatness in you!

And to make sure you recognize it here’s what greatness looks like:

“In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ Luke 10:30-35

If you want to be great, He’s good for it!