My college roommate was a very smart guy. His first two years of college were loaded with classes I couldn’t even pronounce. By his junior year, he wanted an easy A. He went to the university’s list of courses and tried to find the simplest class the university offered. After a few hours of searching, he found it: judo. Why was it so easy? All you had to do was show up. But guess what? He failed. The easiest class on campus, and he failed it. How could this happen? Simple. He forgot he was enrolled in the class. Each day, the judo instructor was marking my roommate absent until he failed the class. It’s the only F on his transcript. Who knew you can fail a class even if you don’t know you’re enrolled?
As believers God has enrolled us in a mission. We all participate in bringing about the purpose of God. This is what God has been pursuing since the beginning of time. For believers, this is not an elective. As I meet Christians across the country, the sad reality is most never show up for the most important course of their life. Why? They never know they’re enrolled. It’s our unknown excuse. Did you realize you were made for a purpose? Many are coasting through life unaware God has a mission and has invited us to join. So each day, they are being marked absent from the purpose they were made for.
By aligning our purposes with God’s, we can joyfully let go of other things and hold fast to the promises of God. What exactly is God’s purpose? From Genesis to Revelation, God has laid out His mission. He has shown us His desire for every believer. Ask yourself, “Do I know God’s mission?” Let’s trace this purpose God has laid out through Scripture. Read these passages and see if you can find the common theme.
Genesis 1: 28
Genesis 9:1
Genesis 12:1-3
Ten Commandments (Deut 4:6)
Parting of Red Sea (Joshua 2:9-10)
David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17:46)
Solomon's Wisdom (1 Kings 10:24)
2 Chronicle 6:32-33 (foreigner prays toward temple)
Psalms 67, 96, 46:10
Isaiah 56:7
Daniel and Lions Den (Daniel 6:25-27)
Micah 4:2
Haggai 2:7
Malachi 1:11
Matthew28:18-20
Mark 16:15
Luke 24:47-48
John 20:21
Acts 1:8
Romans 15:20
1 John 2:2
Jude 23
Revelation 7:9-10
The Bible isn’t sixty-six individual books. It is one book with one theme. From beginning to end God reveals His desire of being known and exalted in every corner of the earth. This is the story of God’s glory and our purpose. Each believer is responsible to act, think, pray, and live for the glory of God among the nations. Our role as believers is to be conduits of God’s grace, and our motivation is the glory of God in the salvation of His people.
Today the rallying cry has not changed. Unfortunately, the glimpse of eternity John gave in Revelation 7:9 is not the way the world looks yet. There are still millions of people without access to the gospel. They will never hear about Jesus, never see a Bible, and most will never meet a Christian. They will never rejoice in the one thing that can save their souls. God is inviting us to get involved with what He is doing. The only thing standing between us and them is our obstacles.
