Living Every Day On Purpose

After getting home from my trip to Central Asia, I’ve been listening to The Seven, a sermon series by Mark Driscoll, pastor at MarsHill Church in Seattle, Washington, which explores the reactions of seven early churches to Jesus Christ.  The ancient ruins of these early churches are found in and around the country that I recently visited in Central Asia, and it has been so much fun to listen to sermons based on that beautiful place (you even get to see video footage filmed on location!).  It also gives me such great, joyful hope that God is drawing the people of that country back to himself, that those living in the place where it all began might one day worship the Most High God! 

In the first message, “The Revelation of Jesus,” Pastor Mark teaches on Revelation 1:1-8.  He provides an overview of the life of John, Jesus’s close friend and author of Revelation, and the ways in which John’s life continually pointed to Jesus.  Near the end of his message, he speaks to the fact that we are all in full-time ministry, not just those who are paid.  His words really encouraged me and challenged my view of what I am to do with my life on a daily basis, particularly at work and in my neighborhood:

“…You’re in full-time ministry. When you go to work, you’re going to work for Jesus, representing the kingdom of God. When you go love, serve, give, care, you’re going as an ambassador of the King of kings. You are in full-time ministry. You’re a kingdom of priests. When you’re home raising your kids, you’re doing so as a priest—someone who belongs to God and represents his kingdom and serves his cause.

Everything we do is meaningful. Everything we do is sacred. Everything we do is worshipful. Everything we do is missional. Everything we do is ministry. All of life for Jesus is the work of a priest in a sacred place doing a divine task. That’s you. Don’t look at what you do as something less than full-time ministry. Some of us get paid; some of us don’t. All of us who belong to Jesus are on mission, in ministry with him as servants. How’s it going?”

Wow.  

I am in awe of how our amazing God calls us into service no matter where we are or what we are doing.  What a transformative mindset to understand that literally everything we do is for the glory of God and should be viewed as missional.  What great purpose that realization gives even the most mundane days!  We are where we are on purpose.  We are who we are on purpose.  We know who we know on purpose.  We live where we live on purpose.  We shop where we shop on purpose.  We get coffee where we get coffee on purpose…. and so forth.  Each moment of our life is given to use as a divine appointment for the sole purpose of making God famous throughout all the earth – that includes your next-door neighbor and the guy in the cubicle next to you.  Everything is on purpose. 

God is not a God of “let’s try this and see how this goes…” No – the God I serve is a God of purpose and of planning.  He is a God who spoke words into the darkness and created light.    He is a God who knows the number of hairs on my head.  He is a God who delights to call me beloved daughter.  He is a God who knows how fast a hummingbird’s wings beat and provides the nectar for its nourishment.  He is a God who dries our tears and gives us hearts that overflow with joy.  He is a God who carved the majestic mountains and filled the seas with life-sustaining water.  He is a God who reins, holy upon his heavenly throne, surrounded by angels worshipping at his feet.  He is a God who humbled himself, becoming fully man so that he could die a horrific death on the cross to pay my sin-debt.  He is a God who cherishes the off-key songs of praise I sing.  He is a God who longs to call each person his child.  He is a God who creates, loves, protects, cares, comforts, guides, cherishes, delights, sympathizes, and sustains. He is God. 

I urge you to make each day an act of worship.  Don’t get lost in the drudgery of your 9-5:00 job or in the length of your “to do” list or in the demands placed upon you by life. Rest in God. Enjoy God. Abide with God. Share God with those around you, wherever you are.  Recognize each moment as a divine appointment given to you directly from God, and I promise that you will naturally change your tone, the words you use, the things you think, the way you spend your time, and the way you view each moment.  You will naturally share about God’s goodness in your life and the salvation he so freely offers to all who call him Lord.  We’re on a mission for God’s glory, and there is no other job I would rather have.  

For more on this topic, see my January 2011 post, Job Offer.