Isaiah 43:7
Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.
The Great Commission or Omission
Jesus gave the disciples and, by extension, gave us the imperative command to go everywhere to make disciples of all people (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8), so we know that is at least part of God’s purpose for us as well as being created for His glory. But do these things take a backseat to other things in your and my life? Does God’s purpose for our life motivate us more, or do things in this life motivate us more? That’s a very hard question to answer, isn’t it? Some church members came to me after a service complaining that some of the members of the church were on Facebook playing games or sharing things during the sermon. My question to these members would be do they spend more time on Facebook or with their face in “the” book, meaning the Bible. I was saddened by this because I have concerns that these members were spending time on their computer during the reading of the Word in worship service instead of following along in their Bibles, many of whom don’t even bring one to church. I fear that some may just be playing church. For many, the obvious answer as to whether God’s purpose for their life motivates them as much as other things in life is no, it does not. Perhaps that’s why for so many, the Great Commission has become the “great omission.” You won’t witness when something’s not important to you.
Created for Him
God created us for a great purpose, and a great deal of that is to glorify Him in everything we do. We are called God’s masterpiece and created to do good works for His glory (Eph. 2:10), but I wonder how many of us miss His purpose for our lives. Jesus says we are His friend if we do what He commands (John 15:14). But what would He call us if we didn’t do what He commanded? Jesus says that He chose us; it was not really us choosing Him (John 6:70), but He obviously chose us for a reason. God is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit but also in truth (John 4:23), and part of our worship is to be doing good for Him (Eph. 2:10) and to seek to glorify Him in everything we do because this body of ours doesn’t really belong to us but to Him (1 Cor. 6:20). We were bought with a price (1 Cor. 7:23), and this price was the costliest purchase of all time and worth more than all the riches in the known universe. Shouldn’t that motivate us to strive for God’s purpose in our life? We were called to be holy before God (Eph. 1:1), yet we and, yes, I sometimes don’t live like it.
The God of This World
The god of this world, Satan, must love it when believers choose to love the things of this world more than the things of God, because if we love the things of the world more, the Bible says we don’t really love God (1 John 2:15). The devil has blinded those who are not saved, and they don’t even know it (2 Cor. 4:4), so some in the church might not even know they’re blind, because if anyone loves the world, they are at enmity (basically at war) with God (James 4:4). I am not trying to make anyone feel guilty but only committing to you the thought that we must all consider whether we are being motivated more either by the things of the world or by God’s purpose for our life.
A Closing Prayer
God, I too am convicted in the writing of this. Do I love the things of the world more than You? Do things in this life motivate me more than being driven by Your purpose for my life? Help me to examine myself, and show me where I am falling short in these areas. In the mighty name of Jesus I pray.
Amen
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