The Closet Walls

“Enjoy the personal satisfaction of having done your work well.” Gal 6:4 NLT

Paint brush, paint, excellence – which word does not fit in this grouping? Let’s see. Last night, I painted a closet in our basement that holds the hot water tank and the stacking washer/dryer. “Couldn’t you be doing better things with your time?” you ask. Certainly! BUT, even though the previous paint job was fine, we had drilled a number of holes in the walls and the resulting polyfiller patches needed covering. “But it’s a basement closet,” you say. Yes, I admit, most people probably would not even notice, especially since the closet has doors. However, I look into the closet almost every day when I do the laundry and I like my surroundings to be beautiful! Not having a can of the original paint colour, I chose some paint that we had on hand which fit into the colour scheme of the room. With walls cleaned and prepped, the painting started.

Four hours later, two coats of paint had been applied and I was done. The next morning, I examined my effort in the daylight. Um, there were several areas that needed touchups and I could try to paint out more of the old colour behind the hot water tank. But wait, is it really necessary? I mean, really, who sees this? Could I be content to leave my project only ninety percent finished? Of course not! I strive for excellence. Every task I start, even those that no one else sees, I want to complete to my utmost best standard! The Apostle Paul says in Galatians 6:4-5, “Be sure to do what you should, for then you will enjoy the personal satisfaction of having done your work well, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For, we are each responsible for our own conduct.” Painting a closet is unimportant on the scale of solving the world’s problems, but God gave me this home to live in and take care of, so completing repairs properly is important. As I want to honour God in everything I do, I made sure the touchups were done well, therefore, giving no reason for anyone, or even God, to question my work. So, from my standpoint, paint brush, paint, and excellence definitely go together!