If you don’t give God 100 percent, you are not committed to Him. That sounds very spiritual. I’m asking the Jesus followers, how is your level of commitment? What is your percentage?
In the mornings I wake up and I’m at about 73 percent. Then I get to the church office and my level drops to about 45%. Something great happens for a church member and my level shoots up to 92 percent. I listen to the news coming out of Washington and my level drops to 4 percent. Every day my commitment level to Christ rises and falls. It is not steady. I want to give 100 percent of my commitment and trust to Him, but life isn’t that simple. I know that God is a long way from being finished with me.
Dr. Lorraine Monroe taught high school students in Harlem for many years. In her advanced English class one year sat a very bright student who, until this particular year had shown great promise. This year his grades suddenly nose-dived, and he was obviously underperforming. Dr. Monroe met with the boy, challenged him, threatened him, pleaded with him, and counseled him. She tried everything, but he continued to float just above the failing line at about 70 percent. At the end of the school year, the young man barely passed, another casualty of the urban jungle.
Ten years later, Dr. Monroe was walking to work on morning when a well-dressed young man approached her.
“Do you remember me?” he asked.
“Of course, I do,” Dr. Monroe replied. “You were in my advanced English class many years ago. I remember you because you had so much talent and you wasted it in my class.”
“I know, Dr. Monroe. I knew you believed in me, even though you were disappointed in my performance. I’ve always hoped I would run into you again so I could thank you for believing in me, because I am one of the editorial writers for Time magazine now, and I owe much of my success to you. You see, Dr. Monroe, my senior year was a difficult year for my family. My father was in prison, my mother was a prostitute, my older brother was selling drugs in the projects, and I was left to care for my younger sister and brother. Dr. Monroe, 70 percent was 100 percent of all I could give you.”
Sometimes a 70 percent commitment is 100 percent of all we have to give. And God is there in the middle of our meager 70 percent, recognizing the seeds of growth in what we’re giving him. God will show up in whatever percentage we give him, which motivates us to give even more.
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