The Goal



Music is from 'Godpleaser' by Petra.)

""Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.""
(Psalm 46:10)

"More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,"  
(Philippians 3:8)

"We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor,  striving according to His power, which mightily works within me." 
 (Colossians 1:28-29)

What is your goal?  What are you aiming at?  By what do you measure if a day, week, month, year, or lifetime is ‘successful'?  What do you want to look back at and see accomplished?

In short, what brings you the most JOY?

Henry David Thoreau said, ‘The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.’  This quote resonates with so many because it seems life is full of unfulfilled dreams, frustrated plans, and unmet expectations.  During this COVID-19 crisis we may be excused for thinking more along these lines because our circumstances – from the calamitous to the merely annoying – seem unavoidably to prevent us from doing what we want to do and seeing the results we want to see.

It need not be so.

God’s word tells us to cease striving for lesser goals, grab hold of a worthy goal that is guaranteed to be accomplished, and to strive mightily in it.

How hard would you work toward a goal that is guaranteed to be accomplished?

You see, God will be exalted.  Jesus Christ is infinitely supreme.  God will conform people infinitely into the image of Christ (see also Romans 8:29-30, 1 John 3:1-3).

Do all of your goals relate to – even submit to – THAT?  If not, why not?

Consider the following words of Scripture (emphasis mine).

The words of the Apostle Paul in explaining God’s purposes for His people:
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;" (Romans 8:28-29)

The words of God quoted by Isaiah regarding God’s purposes for His people (echoed also by Jesus in John 15:16):
"Let me sing now for my well-beloved
A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.
My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
He dug it all around, removed its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
And He built a tower in the middle of it
And also hewed out a wine vat in it;
Then He expected it to produce good grapes,
But it produced only worthless ones.
"And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge between Me and My vineyard.
"What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?
Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?"  
(Isaiah 5:1-4)

The words of King Solomon reflecting on the difficulty and apparent futility of life:
"I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him."  (Ecclesiastes 3:14)

Isaiah quoted God’s words on Israel’s pending calamity:
"That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other,
The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating calamity;
I am the LORD who does all these."  
(Isaiah 45:6-7)

The words of the Apostle Paul in explaining God’s purposes for the world:
"and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;"  (Acts 17:26-27)

These are but a taste of the testimony of the Bible that God is working all things perfectly so that people everywhere would seek Him, know Him, and become like Jesus.

God is working all things toward that end.  Are you?

If not, you may well be eternally frustrated.

If so, you will experience supernatural energy and eternal JOY.

You may well look back at your days, weeks, months, years, and life and see God glorified and you and others transformed into the image of Christ.

Is there a greater goal?

In His Grip,

 Mark Twombly




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