Unfinished: Believing is Only the Beginning
Verse
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).
Food for Thought
So what if we entered a different life destination—not success or happiness or comfort but, instead, a destination involving God’s plan for our lives? What if, as Paul recommended, we “take hold of the eternal life to which you were called” (1 Tim. 6:12) when we committed to become followers of Jesus Christ?
What if we were to enter this destination into our GPSs: follow Christ, live as Jesus lived, love as Jesus loves, and proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God as we are sent into the world as his ambassadors? Isn’t this, after all, the life goal given by God himself to every follower of Christ? With this new destination, the GPS would likely spit out a very different set of driving directions:
- Put the needs of others ahead of your own.
- Take detours when someone needs your help.
- Get off the highway to spend time with family and friends.
- Pick up hitchhikers.
- Use your money to build God’s kingdom, not yours.
- Don’t confuse career success with being a successful person.
- View your work as a means to the end of serving God, not as an end in itself.
- Invest your time, talent, and treasure in being rich toward God.
- Pay close attention to your moral compass.
- Keep your relationship with God as your North Star.
As followers of Jesus we are expected to . . . well, follow him. We must put him first in our lives and not simply try to fit him around our goals and priorities. Everything we have and everything we are can be used in service to the Lord and to further his kingdom goals. It is important to remember that he created us with the very gifts and talents that enable us to become good engineers, accountants, and teachers.
There is no difference for the follower of Christ between the sacred and the secular. All work is sacred if it does not violate God’s laws and if it is offered in the service of building his kingdom.
When we speak of God’s calling on our lives, it is a calling away from our own agendas, a leaving behind of our hopes and dreams to embrace his hopes and dreams for our lives. We may still be engineers, accountants, and teachers, but we are now kingdom engineers, accountants, and teachers. We may still have great financial wealth, but we are no longer owners but instead stewards, not of our wealth but of God’s wealth, entrusted to us to use in building his kingdom.
Question for Reflection
Pick one aspect of your life. How could that aspect be transformed by seeing it as a calling in service of God’s kingdom?
Prayer
Lord, thank you for creating me to serve a unique role. Please help me know how you want me to use the gifts and talents you’ve given me.
Unfinished: Believing is Only the Beginning. Copyright © 2013 by World Vision.