"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3: 23,24

Christ has placed on us a lot of requirements and accountability as one of His followers. We are a purchased people.(1Corinthians 6:20) We are under authority to do our best. Whatever we do should represent the virtues of Christ. Our motives should not be solely for the reward of worldly gains. People should come to us Christians because they know we will give them our very best in quality and service.

Sounds good doesn't it? But, can we realistically live up to these standards? A recent survey indicated that most people thought the best products and services came from non-Christians. Do people get burned from non-Christians? Sure, but they remember the experiences with Christians the most. This may not be a fair judgement, but it does point out the validity of our scripture. Christians, however, are not perfect, therefore, we do not always produce a perfect product or provide the perfect service even thought that is our goal.

Read our scripture again. Our aim in the products or services we render should be to give it our very best, remember who we are really working for, and what the real final reward will be. Every business, every business, should have this as their goal. But even still, we are a frail people and we live in a fallen world. Not every business is going to have this goal. Even those who do not aspire to represent Christ, may produce the better product or service. But who are they serving, and will their reward be temporal or eternal? God also looks at the heart of His people. Our efforts to produce the best possible product may some times fail, but our hearts will always reveal if we are genuinely giving it our best and who we are sincerely representing. 

Proverbs talks a lot about "guarding our heart". In order to produce the best product, we need to guard our heart against some common fleshly traits. Getting the job done too quickly, or concentrating too much on the bottom line can detract our hearts from the  quality we are striving for. Excellence ends up loosing it's place in our priorities and commitment. 

Here are some things to think about concerning product quality;

* Excellent quality can be found in a $20 shirt from Wal-Mart and from  

   a $200 shirt from Joseph A. Bank.

* Excellence in product is the ultimate responsibility of the leader.

* Excellence of product is defined by the customer, not the owner.

* What was excellent yesterday may not be today

* Excellence in product quality demands unrelenting effort and commitment

If Christianity is going to work, it must work in the marketplace where we spend the most time and have the most contact with the outside world.  Whatever God made, He made excellent. We must make sure that in whatever field God has called us, we are giving it our best out of a heart for God. Success will follow when we follow the Most Successful. The Most Successful produced the absolute best for us. It was because He loved us that much. The products we produce and the service we give on those products, will do more to represent Christ than anything we say.