Thursday, January 05, 2012

The Why of the Christian's Life

I believe the Lord confronted me recently, and I am grateful.

Walking up the stairs to bed, I grabbed the two items that were there to be taken up and put away. It was an "ah" kind of moment when I relished in this feeling that I had my house back in order. mostly. enough for me to have shaken that restless feeling of being out of control.

And in that split second sigh of relief, God's Spirit confronted me and upset my peace but in a way that left me humbled and grateful for the humbling.

He spoke a quiet, "Remember why you are here."

Matthew 28: 19, 20 is a record of Jesus's last words before He ascended into Heaven and what He gently spoke to me afresh that evening:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold I am with you always to the end of the age.

The peace I derive from my home having some semblance of order--that sense of purpose I feel as I straighten up, scrub, dust, clean--is so fleeting and shallow if it doesn't find its roots of purpose in this final commission Christ gave to all believers.

If the "why" behind what I do all day long is simply because it makes me feel good, I have sold myself short of such greater pleasures and sense of purpose.

When all I do is somehow rooted in the Great Commission, I then know the greatest sense of purpose there is to be had on earth. And, I know peace--true, lasting peace that comes from orienting my heart, thoughts, deeds to the "why" of life, of my life in Christ--to go and make disciples.

Share the gospel
Love Christ
Inspire others to share the gospel and
love Christ, too!




2 comments:

Laurie said...

Thanks for sharing your "Ah-ha" moment! It can be difficult to connect what we do at home with the great commission. I've been thinking a lot - especially since we have so many new converts these days - about the "making disciples" aspect of the great commission. I think in the current trend toward outreach, there needs to be more of burden to disciple the newbies once they are saved. I read an article about it that made me uncomfortable in a good way. It challenged me to ask myself, "am I willing to disciple?" It's hard work!!!

Zoanna said...

Love it when God speaks directly and unmistakeably. Great post to ponder.


BTW I have tagged you today on my blog.