When was the last time you did something with all your might?
And what exactly does that mean? The Canadian term for this is “give ‘er”.
I recently read the account of King David bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. There was a big procession of the people of Israel celebrating with shouts and the sound of trumpets, and it said that David “danced before the Lord with all his might”.
Wow. What would that even look like?
King David was worshiping with all his might. Have you ever seen that in your church? Somebody really “givin’ ‘er”? I don’t think I have ever seen that, but I’d like to. I can only imagine that King David was loud, boisterous, and he was moving with significant vehemence and commitment.
When I think of doing something with ‘all your might’ there are a few pictures that come to mind: one is sports. Watching athletes train and compete is a great example of doing something with all your might. Passion. Devotion. Exuberance. Commitment. Sacrifice. Blood, sweat and tears.
And, you can even see an example of that in the fans. Have you ever seen those select few fans who seem to be cheering on their team with all their might? They have painted themselves up, made up a sign of some kind, and they are screaming at the top of their lungs in support of their team. It sure looks to me that they are cheering on their team with all their might.
Music is another area where you can see people doing something with all their might. If you have ever been to a live concert and seen the way some musicians give themselves to their performance, you know what I mean. We saw Coldplay live in Vancouver last year and I would definitely say that the lead singer performed with all his might. He had to change his shirt part way through the concert because it was so soaked in sweat.
I know men my age who have hired personal trainers to help them get into shape. From all the accounts they have told me, one of the goals of the trainer seems to be to motivate you to exercise with all your might – to really give ‘er.
Sports, exercising, performing – either musically or dramatically – all provide typical and appropriate venues for doing something with all our might, but there are many other arenas that we can give ourselves with all our might.
I would like to suggest, that the term ‘with all your might’ is synonymous with ‘wholeheartedly’. We are encouraged in scripture to work wholeheartedly like we are working for God and not for men. We are also encouraged to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and strength – that sounds pretty ‘wholeheartedly’ to me – or ‘with all our might’.
Scripture also tells us that physical discipline is of little profit, but training in godliness brings eternal gain. What would it look like to train ourselves in godliness with all our might the same way that men train their bodies with all their might? I think if we were that committed to godliness we would be very different men.
So what’s stopping us from doing something – anything – with all our might? Fear, passivity, pride, resignation, complacency, unbelief? Who knows… but I wonder, if there was even just one area in our lives in which we were engaged wholeheartedly, if we might somehow be predisposed to give ourselves to training in godliness with all our might?
I want to ask you a question: what is one area of your life that you are willing to choose to step into with all your might? Pursuing your wife’s heart? Fathering your children? Prayer? Meditating on scripture? Walking in the light in community? Praise and worship? Giving? Serving? Studying and learning? Loving? Working? Being grateful? Forgiving others?
Let’s give ourselves wholeheartedly to one of the aforementioned areas. If we do we will indeed grow in godliness. It all begins with a commitment made to Jesus – our Personal Coach, “Lord, I’m in. Please help me follow you with all my might.”
We can either give ‘er, or give up. Let’s do like King David and give ‘er for God.
I Timothy 4:7b-8
“…train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”
II Samuel 6:14, 15
“Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might,while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.”
Deuteronomy 6:5
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”