Reach for the Sky -- Laudable Ambition

‘WHEN YOU COME TOGETHER... LET ALL THINGS BE DONE FOR BUILDING UP’

(1 Corinthians 14:26)

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‘GROW UP IN EVERY WAY... INTO CHRIST’

(Ephesians 4:15)

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‘WHOEVER SPEAKS, AS ONE WHO SPEAKS ORACLES OF GOD’

(1 Peter 4:11)

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‘AS EACH HAS RECEIVED A GIFT, USE IT TO SERVE ONE ANOTHER’

(1 Peter 4:10)

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Offer your knowledge and experience to serve patients and colleagues both here and abroad through medical work, mentoring, pastoral support, encouragement, prayer, giving or being a CMF Link.

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11th March: Reach for the Sky -- Laudable Ambition

Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it... I do not run aimlessly. 1 Corinthians 9:24-26

`Shall I work for a higher qualification?' is a question most doctors ask as some time. For some the answer is straightforward. They have known the path ahead since student days, and nothing deflects them from it. For others it is a real battle to find the answer as the arguments for and against go to and fro.

The Christian doctor has a two-fold obligation: towards God, and towards the people he is going to serve. And because he is responsible for the use of the talents God has lent to him, he knows that he must discover, develop and use them to the glory of God and the benefit of his fellow men. While, on the one hand, we are told not to rate ourselves too highly (Rom 12:3), on the other we are encouraged to `aim high' and strive for the mastery

(1 Cor 9:25 AV). In the Christian sense striving for the top is not due to pride or a desire for recognition, but stems from a genuine conviction that -- thanks to the genes, chromosomes, heredity and all that -- we have been entrusted with certain advantages and privileges, and are duty bound to use them. We must therefore make an objective assessment of our gifts and capabilities. We may discover unsuspected skills -- in surgery, teaching or personal relations. It all comes from God and should all go back to God.

Those called to serve God abroad should not underestimate the professional demands they are likely to face, and face alone, with no available second opinion. Study to show yourself a `good workman' (2 Tim 2:15), as much experienced and as well qualified as possible, perhaps working `all out' for the higher qualification, the little extra that may make all the difference between life and death for a missionary colleague, or between success or failure in some other demanding situation.

Help me to put you first, Lord, in everything.
In the matter ... which has been on my kind for
some time, help me to think clearly and seek
your will honestly. Help me to decide, and
give me the courage to do what is right.