There is a question many have asked over the years: Is greatness born or made? Despite the myth of mystical innate genius, researchers have found that it’s actually made through hustle and hard work: by harnessing the supreme power of hard work and diligence.

 

We can’t control the circumstances into which we are born. But there are two things over which every man has complete sovereignty: the use of his time and his effort given. Every man, rich or poor, has twenty-four hours in a day and seven days in a week to labor as much as he wants.

 

Effort and time: these are the great equalizers among men. And how they are used is what separates the mediocre from the extraordinary. The world and the Bible’s greatest men understood this principle; they recognize time as a gift from God not to be wasted, they understand time on this planet is limited, so they put it to work. They understood that glory and honor for God and man go to those who put to use the gifts and redeeming the time wisely and effectively, and so they got to work.

 

Man does not have any innate special powers. No, the secret of success in our Christian walk and our world is making the most of every minute of every single day. Having aim, purpose, and drive. We must accept every opportunity to grow and produce. It is good to know as we wake up early and attack the day’s work with heart and determination that we have been partnered with the power of the Holy Spirit. God is the difference and he makes up the difference in the areas we struggle. But it is our job to work.

 

What will you be able to look back on when your life has been lived? Will it be a life filled with achievement and ministry or an unaccounted for wasteland of life that somehow slipped through your fingers? Better get to work.

 

In His Service,

Eric Barnes