Tuesday September 13, 2016

 

In life, we will all end up somewhere; the question is, where? Where will you end up? What accomplishments will you have achieved when your life ends? What will you have done? Who did you become? Many people live their lives like an unmanned sailboat, dragged in whichever direction the wind blows. Others know where they are going, and no matter which direction the wind blows, they strategically and purposefully position their sails to use the winds to take them to their preferred destination.

 

When God created you, He designed you with a specific purpose in mind. You are supposed to do something and you are supposed to arrive at a specific destination. I cannot tell you how exactly you are supposed to accomplish your purpose. What I can tell you is that your ultimate destination is to live a life that brings glory to God. The Bible tells us, everything was created by God, for God, and to bring glory to God. You and I, although from different vantage points, are created by God and for God. At the end of it all, our lives should have glorified God.

 

When God sent His son Jesus to the earth, he was no different from us in that He too had to learn to trust God, and He too would have to discover and live out His purpose. The amazing thing is that although His task was to save the world, ultimately, His goal is the same as ours, to bring glory to God. We have not been personally called to save the world (that was Jesus’ calling), but like Jesus, we too have been called to live our lives in such a way that it ultimately brings glory to God.

 

As you study the life of Jesus, the one thing you will discover, is that He always understood what His ultimate purpose was. He clearly understood that His goal was to bring glory to God. He would always say things like: “My Father is constantly working, and I just like my Father, constantly work.” “I do not do anything on my own, I only do what the Father commanded me to do.” And, “I do not speak on my own. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it.” Jesus lived His life trusting God and with the end in mind. For this reason, it is no surprise, when towards the end of His ministry on earth He spoke the following words to God:

 

JOHN 17:4 NIV

I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 

 

We too should live our lives with the end in mind. We should live our lives depositing our faith in God and in a manner that brings glory to God in the things we do, how we do them, what we say, and how we say it. After all, this is our purpose and it is the reason why God created us. One day, I will have to stand before God, and I hope that I will be able to say, “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.”

 

To walk in Jesus’ shoes is to live with the end in mind, to constantly work on and say the things that bring glory to God.