His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

Matthew 25:21

My family & I were in the Charlotte area on a little prayer retreat and rest time. While there we took the time to visit the Billy Graham Library. Now, I gotta say, what we expected versus what we experience were two completely different things. We expected a few displays of his achievements and a gift shop. What we experienced was a display of humility and surrender to Jesus, the presence of Holy Spirit in a “museum” and the preaching of the Gospel in every area. In the midst of all that is in the Billy Graham Library, all of the accolades, the Kingdom accomplishments, awards, there was this small sign amongst the display of his memorial procession……

WELL DONE

He lived only with obedience in mind and an eternal perspective of pleasing the Father. Regardless of what positions and special platforms were offered to him, he refused them all. Billy lived with the hope of a “well done” when he breathed his last breath. He stood on assignment and did not deviate from what he was asked to do by God.

The words “well done” struck me to the core. I stood there before that mural silently weeping as I read it. It was convicting. It should be the only thing I look forward to, a well done from God. It should be what fuels my obedience. The praise of man, the fame, the money or influence, it shouldn’t compare to doing everything for the well done at the end. If I’m honest, that hasn’t always been the case in my life. There certainly are times when I did things for the approval of man. There are times I said things to try and gain a larger platform. That is outside of obedience to God and what He has called me to do. I am thankful that, even though I did fall short, I eventually recognized it and changed. Obedience became my foundation and the praise of man became a non essential.

That is eternal. The divine stamp of approval on how diligent you and I were to live in strict obedience to His commands for us. We don’t do it for His approval because we already have that, but we run after the well done because it’s the litmus test of our obedience. We don’t obey for the accolades. We don’t obey for the popularity, and we certainly don’t obey for money.  We obey because He already gave us everything we need for life and Godliness. We already had enough when we said yes to Him, so our obedience is an outflow of our gratitude for the sacrifice of Jesus.

A simple sign. It’s an eternal invitation to do what He says so that we can receive our reward, the words every child longs to hear after doing something asked of them…….WELL DONE.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; …

Psalm 1:1-6