Day Thirty Six: Made for a Mission

What was insightful or convicting to you in the reading today?

You were made for a mission. God is at work in the world, and he wants you to join him.

This is such an important idea. It is God's world, and it is his work - and he wants to work through us to accomplish his mission. This brings relief - we are not ultimately responsible for how it turns out. But it also brings energy - God is the one with the power and strategy for moving his work forward.

The mission Jesus had while on Earth is now our mission because we are the Body of Christ. What he did in his physical body we are to do as his spiritual body, the church. What is that mission? Introducing people to God! The Bible says, "Christ changed us from enemies into friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also."

As we get to know Jesus, his life, his teachings, his patterns, way of life, we become more informed and more inspired to follow in his steps. His mission is our mission, we are not left to guess what kind of work God wants to do through us. Just as Jesus helped connect people to God, so we help others know God. Not through "hit and run" conversations or events, but through the life we build with others, and through the opportunities God gives us in everyday life.

In the Great Commission Jesus said, "Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you." This commission was given to every follower of Jesus, not to pastors and missionaries alone. This is your commission from Jesus, and it is not optional.

God wants you to share the Good News where you are. As a student, mother, preschool teacher, salesman, or manager or whatever you do, you should continually look for people God places in your path with you you can share the gospel.

Paul said, "My life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus - the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness and love." There are people on this planet whom only you will be able to reach, because of where you live and what God has made you to be.

To fulfill your mission will require that you abandon your agenda and accept God's agenda for your life. You can't just "tack it on" to all the other things you'd like to do with your life. You must say, like Jesus, "Father, ... I want your will, not mine." You yield your rights, expectations, dreams, plans, and ambitions to him. You stop praying selfish prayers like "God bless what I want to do." Instead you pray, "God help me to do what you are blessing!"

You hand God a blank sheet with your name signed at the bottom and tell him to fill in the details. The Bible says, "Give yourselves completely to God - every part of you ... to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for his good purposes." If you will commit to fulfilling your mission in life no matter what it costs you, you will experience the blessing of God in ways that few people ever experience.