Wednesday, August 3, 2011

What is it that you are living for?


This was the question that was posed to us in church on Sunday..."What are we living for?  What is it that we are working towards?" (Dr. Michael Brown).
For some, it may be a bigger house, an increase in pay, a promotion at work, a healthy family, a loving spouse,....the list could go on...But that is not what I want us to look at today.  If you were standing before God at this very moment and He asked you, "what are you here for?"....what would your answer be?
What are we bringing to this earth that we have been placed on to live?  Are we just floating through each day from week to week, living for the moment and not knowing what is around the corner?
Are we striving for satisfaction in our relationships or in our jobs?  Are we doing things that will change the world and leave it a better place than before?
What is it that we are set out to do?  And, are we working towards that goal?  What are we doing to achieve the fullness of what it is that we are striving for?
In I Corinthians 9:24-27, it says "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?  Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.  They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.  Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.  No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." (TNIV)
Are we running the race with everything we have been trained with?  Are we training for the race of  a lifetime?  And in the race, guess what...you don't have to compete with your neighbor.   It is just you running the race for the ultimate crown of a lifetime.  You will win if you just run!!!!
Think on what it is you are running for.  The things I mentioned at the top are not necessarily bad things to hope for...we all want a healthy marriage and healthy children and a good job to support our family...but is it all that we are working towards?  Are these things at the top of your list?  If it is, then something in our life needs to change.  Where is God in the running of the race?  Where does He fit in the picture?  Are we moving in life in the direction of heaven? 
If we are placed in a company that we started and we feel that God put us there, then make a difference there...running the race.  If we in a job that we feel that God put us in....then find out what we are there for and...run the race.  If we are stay-at-home moms raising our children through homeschooling, then do it with all that you have and...run the race.  BUT KEEP GOD IN THE CENTER OF THE RACE....Keep Him as your focus for running.  He is the best trainer in the world and the best reward we could achieve.
Run with all that you have within you.  You are not competing with the guy running beside you...it is a solo race...Run it!

Jennifer