Sometimes we do the least possible to meet the requirements or demands. 

Some people are more prone to this than others, but inside all of us there is probably an area of our lives where we do the bare minimum. 

I remember a time when our son was in a church kids’ program where the kids got rewarded for memorizing Bible verses. Each week he sat down with an adult to recite the verse or verses he’d learned that week.

One evening I was helping him with his verses. He was learning the verse but before he had really mastered it, he said to me, “That’s good, Dad.”

I commented, “What do you mean, ‘that’s good’? You don’t know the verse well enough yet.” 

His reply was immediate: “Well, I make sure I tell my verse to so-and-so and she likes me. I get three helps and I can do it with three helps.” 

“Wow!”, was all I could come up with.

My son knew what it would take to get his reward and he was not going to do any more than that.

He’s not the only one. We all have propensity to do the minimum to get or meet the grade, the requirement, the standard.

There have been instances when I had to present something at a meeting and hadn’t spent much time working on it. I looked at what I could present and, though it wasn’t complete, I was able to give enough information to bide me enough time to complete the assignment for the next meeting. 

I’m pretty sure we’ve all been there at one time or another. 

I guess what bugs me is not those isolated times where we are in a pinch and just need to get by. What bugs me are those who live their life by this code and, on a daily basis, will do the least possible to meet the requirements.

I think my garbage man is that kind of guy.

Each week we put our compost bin out to the curb. So often some of what I put out gets left behind. 

In the winter it’s not the end of the world because stuff stays frozen. But now that the warmer weather is here, that bin can get quite smelly because our compost consists solely of kitchen scraps. 

It’s just Lily and I at home so we usually only have a couple of small bags in our compost bin. I couldn’t figure out how the guy could not get it all each week. They have hooks on their trucks to turn those bins upside down and dump everything out of them.

But each week there is a bag left at the bottom of the bin. 

This week I watched the guy and now I know. 

He opened the lid, stuck his hand in the bin and took out the first bag he could reach. He would have needed a longer arm to get the bag at the bottom. … But it’s faster than using the truck’s hooks.

Technically he took the compost, but he didn’t get it all. He did the least possible.

Here’s the thing: There are some people who believe they can do the least possible with God. They might say, “I try to do good things”, or “I prayed a prayer”, or “I believe in Jesus”. But without following Christ with your whole heart, you are merely doing the least possible to meet the requirements. The thing is God knows it all; we don’t fool Him. Put your faith in Christ and follow Him with your whole heart. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Where have you been guilty of doing the least possible? Leave your comments and questions below. 

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