In my very first post on this site, I asked a question that, to this day, continues to haunt my thoughts increasingly as I pursue God’s calling in my life. The question was simply this:
If God sat you down and told you that He was calling you Home in the next ten years, what would you be pursuing?
If you truly sit down and ponder this question, reflecting upon your own life, I firmly believe that you will find yourself in the same state of disarray as I find myself in now. Agreed, at face value, it seems like an innocent enough thought, but I would seriously encourage you to stop and allow the Holy Spirit to speak in your life about the ramifications of such a question. To ask this question to ourselves and Creator God, we can allow God to prune our lives in these areas:
- Our Priorities
- Our Possessions
- Our Relationships
- Our Motives
- Our Time
So what then? If we are to do as Moses prays in Psalm 90, and request God to “teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom,” where is that source found? For that, we have to turn to Philippians 2:1-11
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:1-11 ESV)
This is our answer–the easy answer–being that we find it solely in Christ, yet we find the truth of it more difficult to live out, and rather acknowledge its power and move on with our day. It’s like acknowledging the power of Dish Soap to remove grime off of dirty dishes, yet we never touch the soap and take advantage of its effects. Where is the benefit in that? I love and hate how much this passage is quoted because it is so fantastic, yet so ignored. We’re like a bunch of teenagers at a concert who know the lyrics to the songs by heart, scream them at the top of our lungs, yet are completely ignorant to the message they are presenting.
In light of that, I ask you:
- How Did Jesus view His priorities?
- How Did Jesus view His possessions?
- How Did Jesus view His relationships?
- How Did Jesus view His motives?
- How Did Jesus view His time?
If upon reflecting on this passage we conclude that we are, in fact, to have the same mind as Jesus, we find that nearly everything we have built up in these categories comes crumbling down in dramatic fashion, and only one thing–or should I say Person–is left: Our King. Isn’t that interesting how that works? It’s as plain as day–pure, undefiled, holy–revealing Our true purpose for existence on this rock:
Everything We Are, Everything We Do, Everything We Seek Should Point to Jesus.
If we are to reflect Christ, living out verses 1-4 while looking to our King for the greatest example, we can answer the elements of that question:
- Our Priority is to make Christ’s name known; our priority is people (Matthew 28:18-20)
- Our Possessions are temporal because we have something much greater (Matthew 6:19-24)
- Our Relationships point to Christ, and point others to Christ (Philippians 2:1-4)
- Our Motives are to reach this dark world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in ALL things (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)
- Our Time is short (Psalm 90)
We cannot deny that our time on this earth is short, and whether we as Christians are called home by God through our final breath or in His second coming, it does not matter. Our time is short; I mean, our time is even short if we are blessed with the opportunity to live until old age. Jesus was only on this earth for about 33 years…if I only lived to that age, that means I have only 9 years to do what God has called me to do! Be encouraged, though…even though God doesn’t promise you another breath, each and every second on this earth is a promise that He is not done with you yet. So what are you doing? What am I doing? Please don’t think I have this all figured out because my closest friends and family can easily point out to you my growth areas in this; I merely want to share with you what seems to be burdening my heart greatly.
If all of this is true (and I am certain that it is), I don’t have time to seek out financial success, being confident that God will supply all of my needs according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19). I don’t have time to seek popularity for my own gain, as it does nothing for God’s Kingdom. I don’t have time to seek my own pleasures constantly because there are many out there who have physical, emotional, mental, and–most importantly–spiritual needs. I could sit here and go on about the things that can (and probably should) be pruned from our lives to make room for greater things, but let the Holy Spirit do that as you ask Him these questions.
To end this post, I want you to look intently at the end of Philippians 2:1-11…one day, you will stand before your Creator God. You will not high five Him and talk with Him like one of your buds. You will not have some nifty sit down coffee talk with Him. In the presence of the Only Holy and Righteous God, you will bow, you will confess, and you will worship. And what will be surrounding you? I can assure you that it won’t be our savings, it won’t be our possessions, it won’t be some magical list of our greatest accomplishments on earth…it will be people. People that have been influenced and moved by the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit and the faithfulness of His followers: you. And on that day, the very Being who knew of you before the foundations of the world, the One who not only used His breath to give you physical life but also gave up that breath to give you Spiritual life, will say these words to you:
Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant…
…and it has nothing to do with what you have done, but completely and perfectly on what His Son has done through you, as He sees the reflection of His Son in your life and being. From the beginning, it was all about Him. In the end, it will be all about Him. So I ask you, what do you think the “in-between,” the time in which we exist, is all about?
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose. -Jim Elliot
Always and in All Ways Serving,
Noah