Aim: PArts band members will be challenged to live a life that is pleasing to God in their speech, actions and lifestyle in school.
3 Main Points:
1. Men everywhere are trying to find the significance of being human
2. All the knowledge and all the religious faith in the world will not give a true and ultimate evaluation of human life. Only love will do that.
3. We cannot discover the true worth of human existence without love
Introduction
I’m sure most of us, if not all, have asked ourselves this question: What is the meaning to life? As I was preparing for this devotion, I have come to understand, that as Christians, we don’t have to search far in order to find an answer to that question. Like many of our friends who are not yet believers, we can be busy searching for that answer by supporting causes (Like saving the whales etc.), finding bf and gfs, giving to charity, mugging and chionging our projects and even just trying to be the nicest and happiest person in school, but if we search everywhere else but upwards, we will never truly find an answer.
As Christians, we must first come to terms that we are God’s creation and He as Creator, is totally sovereign over our lives. Therefore, we must recognize that it is not us, not our parents, not our teachers and not our friends, but only Him who determines our purpose in life.
So what indeed is our purpose in life?
For today’s devotion we will be looking at 3 main points.
1. What is our purpose in life
2. How should knowing that purpose affect our lives
3. A hunger to share the gospel
1. What is our purpose in life
Matthew 22:37-39 gives us a very clear picture of what God wants us to do. To love God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, to love God in your speech, to love God in your actions, to love God in even your thoughts, to love God with all you are.
It might seem easy enough to say “Yeah sure! I can do all that, I mean God is like the awesome dude up there, He is all good man so there is no problem loving Him!” But then comes the next part of the passage which tells ‘…a second is like it. You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ To love God is to love your neighbour as yourself.
That means, we are to love our neighbours with all our heart, soul, mind, speech, actions, thoughts and even all that we are.
So one question we can pause to ask ourselves right now is:
1. How have we been not loving the people around us with all the above criteria? What are some things we can change in our attitudes and behaviour to the “difficult” people in our lives?
2. How should knowing that purpose affect our lives
In every single way! When Christ died on the cross, He not only took the penalty of our sins, but He redeemed us by His saving grace that we might now depend on Him to help us change from our old ways and that is by trusting that His work on the cross was completed there and then. But not only that, if His work truly was completed, that means now we have a responsibility and that is to respond to what He tells us to do in complete obedience.
We won’t ever be able to perfectly love the people around us, at least not in this life time, but we must begin changing some of our stubborn old habits like picking on people’s weaknesses, joining in our other classmates in their gossiping, coarse language towards others and ultimately, seeking God’s words to know how exactly He wants us to live our lives. In that, we learn to truly be genuine to people not because we are trying to put on a false front, but because the call to love is a command and it is not a choice.
Another question to think about is:
1. Is there a person in your life who you find particularly difficult to relate with? Knowing that loving others is a command, how can you begin to show love to that person?
3. A hunger to share the gospel
Ultimately, the gospel (meaning God’s words, who He is and what He has done) is what changes lives. If we truly love the people around us, we will want point them back to the One who is Love. Our actions as insignificant as they are, reflect how we truly treasure who God is and when we finally have the opportunity to share the gospel, it is not out of obligation (like someone asking you to do it), rather, it is because you have truly been convicted that the gospel alone can save and transform lives.
Final Challenge:
Sharing the gospel is not just a one off thing of telling the gospel message, but it is a whole life lived out in love with God.
1. Think of 2 friends that you want to start sharing the gospel with, invite them for the event
2. In what you have learnt from today’s devotion, pray and ask God for help in loving Him and the people around you and ask Him to challenge you to live a life that honours Him with all that you are
