Progress Report
Today’s Verse
And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites. ~1 Samuel 27:10
All schools provide progress reports during each quarter to assist a student and his parents to know how he is doing in his subjects and attentiveness to assignments. When a student is doing well and excelling, everyone is happy. When a student is slipping, attention is called to these areas so that immediate improvements can be made. Just like with school, it is vitally important that we have predetermined checkpoints to know how we are doing. David was asked, “Whither have ye made a road to day?”
We must have aspiration.
“And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?” David was not content having someone else take care of him or being accused of being “welfare-dependent.” Instead, he asked for a city that he could manage and develop. All of us should aspire to do something valuable with our lives. We should aspire to pray for something big, do something big, and accomplish something big. The best way to not fall into a state of complacency is to be driven with aspirations and goals.
We must be accountable.
Achish asked David, “Whither have ye made a road to day?” He wanted to know, “What did you do? What did you accomplish?” Accountability is giving an accurate and good report about your job duty and assignments. We must be ready to give an answer of the hope that is within us. We must be ready to testify about the talents we have been given and how we put them to work. Accountability helps us stay prioritized and productive. It keeps us from becoming slothful and lazy. It keeps us from being fired from our job or losing our privileges.
We must make assessments.
It is important to plan your work, then work your plan. We must establish predetermined checkpoints daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly to determine how we are doing. We should establish goals that will stretch us and make our periodic assessments to these goals. For instance, if our goal is a reading goal, we must decide in how many days we plan to finish reading a book. We then measure our progress by day and by week to see how we have done. We should have a contingency plan in case we have unexpected delays or interruptions. We must include people in our path that will help us make sure that we stay on or exceed our target.
We must commit to advancement.
Some men wanted to join David Livingstone and asked if there was an easy-to-follow path to where he was in Africa. He told the men, “If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all.” First, be committed to progress. Do not accept the status quo. Do more than the day before. Find your Mount Everest and start climbing it. Second, pave a way for others. Start making a way for other people to follow. We do this in soulwinning. Start soulwinning in a new area, saturate it with the gospel, then start a new area. Make a road today! Pave some new markers! Build a new building! Find a new venture that you will accomplish, establish checkpoints, be accountable, and get it done!
Have an accountable God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Deuteronomy 30-31