Welcome to 10 minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work.

I'm Jensen Holt McNair.

As a kid kid I had a shelf in my closet that held all of the trophies I had gotten over the years. There were a lot of them and it wasn't

because I was particularly amazing at a sport.

See, my trophy shelf was mostly made up of participation trophies.

Every year at the end of each sports season, everyone on the team was awarded the same trophy that basically said you did it you played second grade soccer and didn't quit and on the shelf it went. And when my parents eventually moved out of my

childhood home to downsize, I had to go through that trophy shelf and I got rid of

most everything on that shelf. There was one for Miss Hustle from a basketball

camp in third grade. I remember knowing that our coach would be giving out this

award so I worked hard all week to be the

giving out this award, so I worked hard all week to be the one who was running the hardest and longest.

I had a blast that week working towards a goal and in the end I got the award.

I was Miss Hustle.

And that's why that award survived the downsizing purge while my

participation trophies went directly into the trash. They didn't mean anything.

They didn't show any devotion to anything or any hard work.

Now this might be a hot take, but I think for many of us we are on track for a participation trophy in our church membership.

And if we aren't careful, we'll end up at the end of our journey facing our king and creator,

realizing the kingdom of God doesn't work like our second grade

soccer teams.

See Jesus calls his disciples to faithful obedience and partnership in building his kingdom.

He isn't satisfied with us just showing up, just believing in the cause.

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