Yogi Berra: If you do not know where you are going you just might end up somewhere else.
This comical quote illustrates a spiritual truth. If we are not sure what we are doing or where we are going spiritually, we can end up doing nothing. If we are not aimed in the right direction, we get nowhere.
This month I have written challenging God’s people as we begin 2024. As an individual I challenge you to understand what you are called to do and where you are going.
Summer 2024 will feature the Summer Olympics. Our family gets absorbed in those two weeks of competitions. Among the events that captures attention are the relay races. So much tension is wrapped up in several key moments.
All eyes are on the baton. Drop it and the race is over. The fastest teams are eliminated with one slip. Likewise, to pass the baton a step before the legal box or a step after it and the team is again disqualified. The baton must be passed correctly for the team to be successful.
The baton of the church has been passed for nearly 2,000 years. Jesus handed it to His disciples with the command to take it to the world. Those leaders passed it on through the early church. By the end of the first hundred years the church had expanded exponentially.
Those early followers passed the baton to the next generation of people. Through the ages one generation has passed the baton to the next. Someone passed it to you. It may have been your parents or grandparents who guided you spiritually. Perhaps it was your pastor, youth leader, or other leader in the church. Whoever it was, they faithfully brought the gospel to you.
Now you must carry it. You have the gospel in your hand with a mission to take it to the next generation. You share the truth with those who come next.
There is no denying your call. Like the Apostle Paul you have been chosen for a purpose. Paul retold his salvation and call experience often. Here is one such instance:
Acts 22:14 “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. 15 You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.
Notice the order of words. Paul was told what he must do first. He is told that he has three tasks before he can begin his mission. First, he must know the will of God. We cannot achieve anything without keeping our eyes on the mission before us. Second, we are called to keep our eyes on the Righteous One. We have so many opportunities to have our attention diverted.
But it is a tragic mistake if we take our eyes off Jesus. Finally, Paul is told that he must hear the words from the mouth of Jesus. Listen carefully to God’s Word.
When we know His will, keep our eyes on Jesus, and listen to His word THEN we are ready to do what He calls us to do. Only THEN can we be on mission as a witness.
In two passages we are told that the world is ready to hear the Gospel. Jesus spoke to His disciples at a well in Samaria. His words challenge us. The harvest truly is ripe. (John 4:35-38, Matt 9:37-38)
35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Jesus calls our eyes to the field. The field is the entire world without Christ. People do not need more church.
