I have glorified You on earth; I have finished the work that You gave me to do. (John 17:4)

The order from the head teacher was abrupt. “The classroom needs sweeping. Take the broom and sweep it!”

Young Booker T. Washington knew that this was his chance. He swept the room three times, and then dusted the furniture four times. When the head teacher came back to evaluate his work, she inspected the floor closely and then used her handkerchief to rub the woodwork around the walls, the table, and the student’s benches. When she could find not even a speck of dust anywhere in the room, she said quietly, “I guess you will do to enter our institution.”

Cleaning a classroom was nothing less than Booker T. Washington’s entrance exam to Hampton Institute in Virginia. In later years, he would recall this as the turning point in his life. He wrote in his autobiography, Up From Slavery, “I have passed several examinations since then, but I have always felt that this was the best one I ever passed.”

Slacking off, goofing off, and dozing off rarely opens doors of opportunity. Those doors are opened best by a consistently excellent effort on our part. Give the world your best, an effort of the same caliber today!

Gracious Creator, grant us the strength and integrity to do our best in all things that we undertake!