Daily Devotions

Monday, January 12, 2009

Current Study: Living Life to the Fullest         

Today’s Topic: The Mission of Jesus

Today’s Scripture:   Luke 4:18-21  “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

If you remember from last week, I started a short study of Colossians 3:17 as the foundation for my New Year’s resolution. That verse says, “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” I am specifically focusing on what it means to do everything “in the name of the Lord Jesus.” God gave me a great acrostic of the word name, and it has proven valuable in our study. That acrostic is:

Nature

            Attributes

            Mission

            Exaltation

Whatever I do, whatever I say, and whatever I pray, is to be according to the nature of Jesus, the attributes of Jesus, the mission of Jesus, and the exaltation of Jesus.

Today we come to the  letter “M”, which represents the mission of Jesus. I wonder how our lives would change if took some quality time to reflect on our lives and evaluate how much of them are spent on the mission of Jesus compared to being spent on our own pursuits? I suspect they might change drastically.

First, a couple of ground rules for such evaluation. One, no guilt and shame allowed. You may not have thought about these things before, and Satan would love to wrap you up in a blanket of regret. But New Year’s resolutions are about forgetting the past and pressing on towards the future.  Two, it is granted that we all need relaxation and recreation. Even Jesus got away from everyone and relaxed. However, when He relaxed, He did so with the sole purpose of being physically refreshed for the accomplishment of His Father’s mission. Even while He was relaxing, He prayed, prioritized, planned, and prepared for God’s purpose in His life.

For example, and I expect honesty, how many of you sat and watched both football games yesterday as I did, and while doing so spent any time thinking about how this was going to refresh you and provide you with increased opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus with someone at work today? In case you’re wondering, I did. It was a lot easier to do yesterday than last Sunday because of the teams that were playing. I woke up early this morning with all three engines running at peak performance. My physical engine is strong. My emotional engine is secure. My spiritual engine is running at top speed in anticipation of being used by God today to touch someone’s life with His love. All because while I relaxed, I thought about what God wanted to do with my life after I was refreshed. The mistake many of us make is to use relaxation and recreation as an escape from the past, rather than a preparation for the future.

Now that we have those basics in place, we are ready to start the evaluation process. The first half of the process involves answering this question – do you understand what the mission of Jesus is for your life? While each of us is unique, and uniquely equipped for various roles and responsibilities within the body of Christ, each one us starts with the same marching orders. Our identical mission is this – Go into all the world and make disciples. We could spend weeks upon weeks studying all of the individual ways we are prepared, equipped, and gifted to do that, but unless we truly accept the primary mission itself then all of the methods will be meaningless. There is to be nothing in our lives more significant than the salvation of souls. There is to be no higher priority than people. There is to be no search for meaning apart from our mission. We will find no true fulfillment in life apart from following Jesus Christ.

The second half of the evaluation involves carefully prioritizing all of the other areas of your life under Christ’s mission. Some of those activities can remain. Some might have to go. Let me remind you of the questions we asked last Tuesday, and you can use them today to examine your priorities in light of God’s mission for your life. Ask these questions about every area and activity of your life.

• Does this word or activity support my understanding of the mission to which I have been called in Christ Jesus?
• Does this word or activity represent the Gospel message of the transforming power of Jesus Christ to change my life?
• Does this word or activity present an opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus with another person?
• Does this word or activity present an opportunity to make a disciple?
• Does this word or activity present an opportunity to teach others to obey Jesus?
• Does this word or activity present an opportunity to encourage and build up a brother or sister in Christ?

If the answer to any of the questions above is “no”, then ask yourself, while remembering ground rule #2 above, why that activity is permitted to remain in your life. Of what value is it in accomplishing the mission of God?

My friends, we are people of mission. Everyone wants to be. We are blessed to not only be people of mission but people who get to experience the one true and fulfilling mission of all life – serving the Savior. This year, let’s serve Him according to His mission, not ours. Today, let the mission of Jesus be fulfilled in you.

Pastor John