How to Be Blessed By God
Making Every Effort

Scripture: Hebrews 12:14

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

          The phrase “make every effort” that is in our scripture for today, is a bold statement.  You have heard people use it and, possibly, have used that phrase yourself.  To say “I made every effort” is to indicate nothing else could be done!  It would be my guess that most of the time, this phrase is an exaggeration.  It would also be true that in most cases, it would not be that important or critical to life to insure that it’s true…that we’ve made every effort possible!

In today’s scriptural context, this phrase is critical…critical to our eternity.  The author of Hebrews tells us that without holiness, no one will see the Lord.  Thus, it is extremely important that we “make every effort” to be holy.  I believe that means that no command of God…no scriptural instruction, can be taken lightly.  It means that when the Holy Spirit nudges us, we must act accordingly!

In the last few days we have been talking about diligence and how God blesses the diligent!  Making every effort is another way of describing this characteristic of diligence!  When God sees us making every effort to please Him, He rewards us.  The windows of Heaven are open to us and God’s provisions and resources are provided to us.  Yes, it is critical for each of us to check our hearts, asking if we – indeed – are “making every effort” to please God.

“Father, keep me honest about my ‘efforts.’  Show me when I’m giving less than my best!  I ask this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”