By Brooke Momblow
________________________________________________________
What Is Your Aim? By John Piper
Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. . . . And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:17)
When you get up in the morning and you face the day, what do you say to yourself about your hopes for the day? When you look from the beginning of the day to the end of the day, what do you want to happen because you have lived?
If you say, “I don’t even think like that. I just get up and do what I’ve got to do,” then you are cutting yourself off from a basic means of grace and a source of guidance and strength and fruitfulness and joy. It is crystal clear in the Bible, including these texts, that God means for us to aim consciously at something significant in our days.
God’s revealed will for you is that when you get up in the morning, you don’t drift aimlessly through the day letting mere circumstances alone dictate what you do, but that you aim at something — that you focus on a certain kind of purpose. I’m talking about children here, and teenagers, and adults — single, married, widowed, moms, and every trade and every profession.
Aimlessness is akin to lifelessness. Dead leaves in the back yard may move around more than anything else — more than the dog, more than the children. The wind blows this way, they go this way. The wind blows that way, they go that way. They tumble, they bounce, they skip, they press against a fence, but they have no aim whatsoever. They are full of motion and empty of life.
God did not create humans in his image to be aimless, like lifeless leaves blown around in the backyard of life. He created us to be purposeful — to have a focus and an aim for all our days. What is yours today? What is yours for the new year? A good place to start is 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
_________________________________________________________
My aim this Advent season was to spend time seeking God and the wonder and joy of relationship with him. Even though this Christmas looked a little different than others, I was still afraid of the season going by too swiftly, unmarked by significance. So, following ancient Christian tradition, I decided to fast for advent. It was a time of seeking intimacy through prayer, reflection on the meaning of my actions and the symbolism of traditions. Although I did have a list of specific things I was seeking God for, my fast wasn’t about manipulating God to do what I wanted. It was about saying to him, “being close to you is worth whatever I might go without”. I was surprised at how satisfied I was with less food and less extravagance. When I had to work a little harder at menu planning and preparation I found it was a great time to prayerfully evaluate all I was searching God for.
Just before Thanksgiving I lost a very dear friend who was more like family to me. My aim was to be there physically, emotionally and spiritually for her four young adult children in any way that God would allow me. Then another friend lost her Mom. And then my brother-in-law lost his dog of thirteen years. Days before Christmas it was time to spread my friend’s ashes with her family. Advent began to feel like a season of loss.
Many of us deeply feel our losses more at the holidays. We shouldn’t block those feelings, but allow ourselves to remember them. Love intensifies affections in both life and death. Isn’t that one of the places where the promise of Christmas wraps like a balm? He came that we might have life. Don’t give in to self-destructive bitterness. We have a greater hope. Also, don’t allow the joys of the season to become a replacement for the magnificent joy.
After the fast was over I felt a great sense of pleasure in the festive feast foods of Christmas. I experienced a deeper satisfaction without a need to overdo to keep the pleasure going. It was liberating and exulting, everything felt like a real celebration!
Let every loss and every delight send you seeking Jesus. When our time of fasting on earth has ended, the promises of God will be fulfilled and our celebrating will be momentous in eternity.
In light of my discoveries in the fast, in light of the reality of loss, my aim and my intentions for this coming year are greatly influenced.
Lord, be close to me. May my pleasure be You. Be glorified in me. Teach my heart to be so like yours that the world around me is astounded by You. Amen.
Homework:
Don’t do it this morning because it will take some time, prayer, and thought… But in the coming days set aside a place to do a yearly examen and to make a plan for how you will live more intentionally the purposes God has called you to in 2021. A helpful outline for this examen is attached for you to print out and use.
No comments:
Post a Comment