.JPG)
Monday, March 24, 2008
Don't Waste Your Life
I don't want to get to the end of my one and only life and realize I've wasted it. Probably everyone wants his or her life to count for something and to matter; there are certainly very few people who want to waste their lives.
But what does it mean to waste your life? And what does it mean for your life to count, to matter, and to be meaningful? Really, both of those questions boil down to this: Why do you exist? What are you here for? Isaiah 43:6-7 makes it clear that God created us for this purpose: to glorify Him. Humanity was intended to reflect praise and honor to God; we were designed to make much of God. In other words, you exist to point praise and glory to God.
If your life doesn't fulfill its purpose, then it was wasted. Specifically, a wasted life is one that fails to make much of God.
Given the purpose of our lives—as stated in Isaiah 43:6-7—it should be no surprise that Paul gives this command: whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). In other words, everything you do should be done to fulfill your purpose, which is giving glory to God.
The Apostle Paul determined not to waste his life; instead, he set his heart on glorifying God by spreading the message of Christ: I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace (Acts 20:24).
Paul was determined not to get tangled up in little dreams and small visions; he knew that the single purpose of telling everyone about Jesus is greater than every distraction. Because of his vision, passion, and purpose, Paul's life was not wasted. Compare what Paul said in Acts 20:24 about his desire to "run the race" with what he wrote decades later in 2 Timothy 4:7: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Paul's life was not wasted; he lived every day purposefully for the glory of God.
Take Paul's example and try writing a "mission statement" for your life. Then, live a life driven by that mission. When you get to the end of your life, don't let your reflection on life be "I've wasted it." Instead, leverage your life in every way possible for the glory of God.
[http://www.christnotes.org/]
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I don't know if I'm the first to post a comment, but I remembered I haven't seen much hits.
Anyways I do enjoy your messages and I want to share that your knowledge of His words continue to draw me away from Satan.
I word this way, because it's lately where I've been feeling like my body is being ripped into two. One side is where I want to go, the other side is held by the claws of evil.
Will my soul rot in hell if I continue to succumb to the forces of evil?
As long as we live on this earth, we will struggle with forces of evil. I can't prove your salvation, but I can give you evidences of it. First, when we do give way to sin, there is disdain for it. We don't like it. It leaves us feeling sick. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) Our old self has no immune system to sin. It doesn't repel it, and in fact, encourages it. Now, being a new creature in Christ, we develop an immune system which attacks sin because it cannot stay in the system. If it does, we become sick. Do you have this new immune system?
On occasion, we still sin. But, "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
(1 John 1:9 ESV)
"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." (Romans 5:8-11 ESV)
We are justified by the blood of Jesus and as long as we remain in Him, we will be saved from the wrath of God. What you need to work out continually, is whether or not you remain in Christ, whether or not you are reconciled to God.
Post a Comment