Setting the Goal

Having goals are good, they provide vision and motivation to accomplish worthwhile things in our lives. Many people wander about most of their lives without goals and achieve nothing because they lack vision. The scripture says that "without vision the people perish".
Recently I was reflecting on the day that I surrendered my life to Christ and the pastors wife from the church that I began to attend gave me a embroidered and framed wall hanging that said " What we are is God's gift to us, What we become is our gift to God". I don't know whatever happened to that but over the years with moves and such it is just gone. Never the less as I remembered that gift and the saying I thought to myself "what a lovely thought and a great goal". I was brought up short very quickly in my thinking by the Holy Spirit. While it seems a lovely thought and a lofty goal to do something great with my life and consider it my gift to God it is just simply not scriptural and puts the emphasis in the wrong place.

First of all most of us come to God an absolute mess. The devil has had his way with us and made us his child and we are full of his ways. This is not God's gift to us, we are sin saturated and the bible says that the "wages of sin is death" so here we are bound for hell and death and God reaches down in His mercy and snatches us from certain destruction and we dare say the our condition at that time is God's gift to us? No, certainly not. The rest of the above scripture is "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord".
More important is the emphasis on what I do with my life that is supposed to be my gift to Him and this is where most people miss the mark. Careful study of scripture along with time spent with God will reveal that we actually can do nothing for Him, it is just the reverse. He does it all for us and then rewards us for allowing Him to do it. If I focus on what I'm going to do or think I am doing for God then I can compare myself and my accomplishments with others and can either be prideful or depressed, neither position is acceptable to God. The goal and purpose of a true disciple of Christ is to bring glory to the Father. If I accomplish something I bring glory to myself but if I am helpless and He uses me and equips me to accomplish something that I could not otherwise do then "Who gets the glory"?

How helpless are we really? Matthew 6:27 (New King James Version)
27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? other versions say "or add one hour to your life"?

One of the most difficult tasks that the Lord has with His people is to separate them from pride, arrogance and self sufficiency. We must remember that if we were so good at living life then how come we came to Him in such a mess. There's only one way that we will accomplish anything that we will get credit in heaven for and that is by total surrender and just allow Him to do what He wants with us. I suggest that for deeper understanding on this issue that you read my blog in the archives titled
"Abiding in the Vine" http://acts2216.blogspot.com/2010/03/abiding-in-vine.html

Ephesians 2:10 (New King James Version)
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Until I came to understand this scripture I often wondered why I had to go through so much hell before God revealed Himself to me in a way that I could accept His gift of life. There had been lots of history before that time, any of which could have been the catalyst but no it just didn't happen. Finally I came to realize that He actually had a purpose for my life and certain things planned for me to do and none of that could happen until I went through certain experiences and was positioned where and when He wanted me. Also because of all the failures that I had experienced it was easier for me to appreciate what God was doing with my life and the changes He brought about. I cannot claim to understand all that God does because I am only human and cannot see the future and actually understand only a little of the past but I have come to trust Him fully and to know that whatever happens it is for the best and that some life somewhere will be affected in a positive way by it. With that comes perfect peace and no amount of earthly possessions can give that to me and what's more, I am assured of a place in eternity where I no longer have to count the days I have left to accomplish anything before I am to weak or sickly to even care. Praise God for His mercy, compassion and gift of eternal life.

Bless you all and may you come to have a greater appreciation of Him this Christmas season.

john Martin
justjohn@eoni.com