Thinking about life’s pathway over the last few days I sought to boil down what it is that I want to do with the remainder of the second half of my years. Statistically, I’m beyond the chronological mid-point of my lifespan and there is not the option of shuffling my feet, stuffing my hands in my pockets and living out my days curious (but not committed) concerning who I should be and what I should do. My nightmare would be to finish up my years and discover my faith always rested in the realm of the theoretical or potential…but never in a practical outflow that brings glory to my King. After a prolonged period of pondering, I realized that I could reduce my purpose to this simple statement: I want to be used of God to help people know Him more fully. The Apostle Paul once wrote of Jesus Christ:
“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” – Colossians 1:28 {ESV}
Presenting people mature in Christ is what I hope to accomplish. I will need faith. So will anyone I am allowed to help. The grand purpose of faith is not that we would have better lives on earth. The purpose of faith is that we would know God. Faith is not primarily for us to accomplish great things. Faith opens us up to the very real existence of the invisible Creator. Faith is not a crutch, it is a cannon that destroys the limitations of time, space and human reason and opens our understanding to the realm of eternity. As deep and vast and unfathomable as God is, that is the degree to which we have room to grow. We are on a pathway of spiritual growth and we experience this maturation by the proclamation of Christ, believing that proclamation and living in it accordingly. We should believe it to be a good thing to seek to help people know Him more fully. I want the second half of my life to be spent doing exactly that.
I hope you’ll join me in patient seeking of God to learn how we might accomplish that with our lives. If you commit to this pathway, you’ll have to renounce other pursuits. You might not be able to be instantly satisfied when you live to help others know God. Some people are certain to reject your attempts and dismiss your desire to help them know Him more fully. This pathway is not largely populated so there are sure to be seasons when you feel alone. This world and Satan are going to encourage you to leave the path after you’ve been on it for a while. There is very little applause along this way and, if you are walking as you should on this path, you won’t hear the applause if it does happen to arise. By the way, you will be walking with Jesus every single day – that’s good news, right? Sometimes He will speak precisely and you will bask in His affirming voice. At other times He will choose to remain silent, allowing you to recall what He has already said to you in earlier portions of this pathway. Expect to be frustrated when He stops and requires you to do the same when it would seem to you that moving on more quickly would be wiser. No, He will never rush and you will need to learn the glory of stillness. In the end, when you arrive at the end of the path you will have new eyes that will allow you to see what He did with you along the journey. He will show you that you were an instrument of His which made a difference. Not a small difference, but an eternal one.
Yes. That’s what I want to do. Let me help people know God more fully. What a purpose…what a privilege.