The Lord wants an intimate
relationship with you. You were created to be His Spiritual mate,
the one He loves and cares for. You are the pinnacle of His
Creation and He longs for you to know Him intimately. You are His
Bride and He wants to care for you like a loving Bridegroom cares
for His beloved.
We are busy with the general
purposes we all have while we are still on this earth. The first
one I discussed is to know the Lord more intimately and to have a
special relationship with Him. The second one is:
2. To become more and
more like Christ
The Lord Jesus came as an example
to all of us. He came to save us as you all know, but He also came
to show us the right way of living. He came to show us the way to
truly walk on this earth as a devoted Christian. And that should be
our focus in this life. We should try and follow the example of
Christ. And through following His example of caring for others we
will receive true fulfillment in this life. Nothing (except for
truly having a relationship with God) is more fulfilling than
making another human being smile. Nothing is more rewarding than
knowing that you made a difference in someone's life.
It doesn't have to be something
big. Right there where you are, try and make someone's day. Give an
honest compliment to someone, help an old person across the street,
smile at the cashier at the supermarket, boost your child's
confidence, help someone out with the work that they were battling
with, give your lunchbox to someone who can't afford it, pay for
someone's meal at a restaurant, pay a visit to the sick in the
hospital, send an sms to someone you know is going through a rough
time, the list can go on and on. But try and look around you every
day and look for opportunities to make a difference in someone's
life. There are several opportunities presenting itself on a daily
basis. We simply need to be attentive and try to follow Jesus'
example. We need to develop the fruit of the Spirit in our
lives:
Galatians 5:22, 23 - "But when the
Holy Spirit controls our lives, He will produce this kind of fruit
in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
I know it is not always easy to
follow in His footsteps. He was perfect and I know that we will
never be. Our sinful nature will never be able to completely be
like Him. Even the Apostle Paul didn't come close to Jesus'
example:
Philippians 3:12, 13 - "I don't
mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I
have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day
when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants
me to be. No, dear friends, I am still not all I should be."
So even though we can never reach
perfection, we can try like Paul to mature in our faith. We need to
get off the spiritual milk and start eating solids. It is
embarrassing to stay on milk. My son was (and still is) crazy about
his milk. Now when he was a baby it was how it should be, he should
love his milk and get a lot of it. But once he turned 3 years old
it started to be an embarrassment for me. He didn't want to let go
and move forward to solids. He would have been happy to drink milk
for the rest of his life. (Imagine him still drinking his milk
bottle at the age of 18!) It is not acceptable and people will
definitely raise their eyebrows. But except for that, it was
starting to be a health risk to him. He will not develop properly
if he only continued to drink milk and not eat any solids. At a
later stage he will physically get sick from not getting the proper
nutrition he is supposed to be getting. And the same applies to our
spiritual wellbeing. We cannot simply stay on milk, we
have to move forward. Our spirit needs the nutrition and
will not develop as it should if we don't feed it. We will stay
babies. And just as I worried about my son who didn't want to leave
his milk, so the Lord is also concerned about us. He doesn't want
us to stay babies, He wants us to grow and become spiritual giants.
He wants us to experience the spiritual blessings that are
available to us. He wants us to become more like Christ. We should
follow Paul's example:
Philippians 3:13,14 - "I am
focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and
looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of
the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus,
is calling us up to heaven."
We need to run the race and we need
to complete the race, giving it all we've got. Don't run with a
half hearted attempt, but strain to reach the finishing line. Give
it your best. That is all that He asks of you.
Lord Jesus, please help us each day
to become more and more like You. Help us to reach out to our
fellow human beings in need and help us to have Your heart for
them. You are truly amazing. Amen