“You must do no ordinary work on that day. Instead, you are to present special gifts to the Lord.”

When a company does something extraordinary, we take notice. The “first” of anything makes the news. Usually those firsts are accompanied by a number (sold, reached, launched, achieved, made, etc.).  What I find interesting is our need for the records to be broken and the new to be told.  We bore quickly as consumers and if our companies are not finding the extraordinary to market and sell, we end up ordinary.  Ordinary is not all bad, especially if we deliver quality or safety (we want our elevators and airlines to be running as ordinarily as possible), but even then we have to find something of the extraordinary to distinguish us from the others.  When was the last time we thought about what it is that we have that could be considered ordinarily extra?

In C.S. Lewis’ book, “Miracles”, he writes, “Nothing can seem extraordinary until you have discovered what is ordinary.”  And maybe, that is what God is trying to say to us today as we wind down this last week before Christmas and New Years. We are plowing through the ordinary, completing our to do lists and last-minute priorities, so that we can be fully present in the ordinary before we bask in the extraordinary which is about to happen with the celebration of the birth of Jesus.  It was from ordinary beginnings that Jesus became the most extraordinary influence in history, present and future.  We are His ordinary gifts to the world who are here to bring glory to the extraordinary that He always will be.  So, be hopeful and energetic about what has been given to us as ordinary time and tasks, to make extra for Him!

Reference: Leviticus 23:25 (New Living Translation)