I just finished up an intense week of “purpose” in my life. As I’ve mentioned before, my purpose as a follower of Jesus is all about bringing others to Him and He blessed me with some awesome opportunities to witness at work and in my free time this past week. It ended with a pre-intervention meeting with the family and friends of an alcoholic last night. I never turn down an opportunity to help a family in this situation because it was a recovering alcoholic and addict who helped my family lead me to the “light” several years ago.
A common thought I often hear Christians verbalize is “I wish God would reveal to me what my purpose is.” The funny thing about it, God tells all of us what our purpose is throughout the Bible and it is quite simple and it doesn’t get any simpler than Jesus’ words in Mark 16:15 “He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” The “them” being referred to were His disciples. Jesus was telling them to “just do it.” Jesus wants us all to be disciples and being a disciple doesn’t take a whole lot of anything other than a willingness to say yes, the fortitude to witness, and the understanding it is not about us (thanks to Rick Warren and The Purpose Driven Life and my mother-in-law for buying me the book).
We don’t need to be famous or need a lot of money or a pulpit, a television show, or a radio show to carry out our purpose. We can witness throughout each and every day simply by walking the walk and being open to share the good news with others. People have asked me why I go to the effort of doing this blog, well I simply “do it” to share the good news and it also serves as an effective use of my idle time and I’ve learned that idle time is the devil’s playground. Believe it or not, I get several thousand hits a month on this little website. Although that is miniscule compared to the billions of hits porn sites get I feel as though I am out in the devil’s internet playground putting up a good fight for The Lord.
So how do we carry out our purpose/responsibility? What does it take to witness? How do we “just do it?” It takes a willingness to say yes and it is impossible to say yes if we let the devil tell us no. Thoughts such as “I don’t know enough,” “I can’t talk very well,” “Nobody is going to listen to me,” “I have nothing to offer,” “I’m too new to all of this,” “I don’t have the energy,” “I don’t have the time,” or “I don’t know the Bible,” are all thoughts that derive from the devil. Excuses for Christians are of the devil and it’s like my college basketball coach once told me after I gave him a lame excuse for my poor play…”Excuses are like our hind ends (he didn’t say it that way), we all got ’em and they all stink.”
After saying yes it takes strength to carry out the mission. Prayer is the best way to prepare ourselves for witnessing and to gain strength to “just do it.” I pray every day that God opens my eyes in order to recognize opportunities to witness and in turn gives me the strength to “do it.” One of the greatest ways to get out of yourself and off the pity pot is to witness by helping others. There is no right or wrong way to “do it.” If we are trying our best to walk the walk, it is never wrong to witness, and when we think it is wrong we are basically not following Jesus’ instruction when he said “go into the world and preach the good news to all creation.” God gives us the strength to witness through the power of the Holy Spirit…Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus tells us what our purpose is and this is an incredible responsibility as disciples. I have found he will give us the ability to carry out this responsibility if we simply become willing and seek strength from Him. Today I view this responsibility as an awesome opportunity and I am thankful for this week of purpose, responsibilitiy and opportunity the good Lord blessed me with. But above that I am thankful to Him for giving me the willingness and the strength to “just do it.”
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay, when I became aware of my brokeness I can remember the feeling of aloneness and was wondering where I would get the strength to just make it through that day. As I transitioned through recovery, I remember being asked to give my story, and remember thinking “No way can I ever do that” Three years later I found the strength to carry out my purpose and responsability, and humbly found myself on the stage sharing my testimony. God had made me realize that if just one soul can receive some hope from my trials, then all the humility that I might receive would be worth it. I just did it. And do you know what? I didn’t hear one snicker, mumble or moan from those listening. In fact I was applauded. Is God great or what? Man, when you are doing it for his greater good, He not only gives you the strength, but He lifts you up and pats you on the back.
Reed
Amen brother!