One of the greatest motivations in my life is the understanding that I am a steward of my life and all that I that I possess is a gift from God to be used for His glory. An equal motivation in my life is the principle that what I don’t use I will more than likely lose.

Jesus explained this in a parable He taught regarding three people that were entrusted with money by their master to invest according to their abilities while he was absent on a trip. On his return, two of the servants had doubled their money while the third servant had hidden his money for fear that he would lose it. This resulted in the master taking the money entrusted to this servant and giving it to one of the faithful servants. In other words, because he didn’t use it, he ended up losing it.

This principle is deeply rooted in much of life, and we ignore it to our own peril. If we fail to exercise our physical body, we will lose strength, health and perhaps years from our lives. The same goes for sporting and musical abilities, brain functioning, social networking and spiritual gifts that are given to us by the Holy Spirit to use in our service for God.

Athletes use the term “reversibility” in place of “use it or lose it” which claims that if athletes do not exercise regularly, their heart and muscles will reduce in size, as well as in efficiency. In my senior years I am only too aware of the impact the “use it or lose it” principle can have on my physical health and am motivated to maintain a daily schedule to slow down the use by date of some of my bodily parts

In addition, I am motivated by the parable of Jesus to not give up on using my spiritual gifts in His service by believing that there is such a thing as a retirement age for Christians. And consequently, I end up “losing it” with the result that someone else will step up and “use it”.

I encourage you to take a review of your life with reference to the “use it or lose it” principle with the goal that one day you will be able to stand before God and say as Jesus said, “Father, I have brought You glory on earth by FINISHING THE WORK YOU GAVE ME TO DO.”