mission

In all your ways…

This past week my sermon came from the most familiar Proverb.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Solomon offers a number of incentives in this chapter for the person who walks wisely. Verses 5 and 6 detail the demands for one to be wise. In my sermon, I listed those demands:

  • Trust the LORD completely.
  • Reject self-reliance deliberately.
  • Acknowledge the LORD constantly.

God often convicts me with my own sermons. And one of the ways he is convicting me this week is about acknowledging him constantly. In all my ways, I must acknowledge him. In all your ways, you should acknowledge him.

What are our ways? Well, we have many of them. We have the way of our own spiritual walk. We have the way of family interactions. We have the way of work or school. We have the way of leisure. We could on. What is clear is that Solomon teaches us to acknowledge, that is recognize and testify to our relationship with the LORD in all our ways. Acknowledge comes from the Hebrew word da’at which means a relational knowledge. So we must confess and testify to the LORD’s saving presence with us in all our ways.

A verse in Isaiah relates what we mean.

Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
    all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from before your birth,
    carried from the womb;
even to your old age I am he,
    and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
    I will carry and will save.

Isaiah 46:3-4

The LORD knows us from before birth and carries us into old age. He guides, protects, saves, and defends. He knows all our ways. He watches over his own throughout their lives. His saving compassion is motivation to acknowledge him in all our ways.

One way we could acknowledge the LORD is in light of our mission. Our mission at Wilkesboro Baptist is to lead our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus. We do so by worshiping, learning, serving, and replicating.

Here are some thoughts I’ve jotted down for myself for this week.

In my way of worship today and this week, I will acknowledge the LORD. I will remember his greatness and majesty (Isaiah 46:9). As best as I’m able, I will go through the day and this week acknowledging the presence and greatness of the LORD in my attitude and practice of worship.

In my way of learning today and this week, I will acknowledge the LORD. I will be attentive to what I read, hear, and learn from others. Intentionally, I will seek to be teachable and to grow in my understanding of what’s going on around me.

In my way of serving today and this week, I will acknowledge the LORD. I will seek to serve the LORD as I serve others personally and ministerially. Rather than be overwhelmed by the ministry conversations and interactions of the week, I will seek to let each of them be a means of serving the LORD who is worthy.

In my way of replicating today and this week, I will acknowledge the LORD. I will consider conversations, relationships, and opportunities in light of the Great Commission mandate to make disciples. From my discipleship group to interactions with family and even to strangers, I will seek to acknowledge the LORD in these relationships by seeing these moments as opportunities to replicate the life of Jesus in someone else.

There are of course many other ways that we will walk this week. If we truly want the LORD to make our paths straight, then we need to acknowledge him in all our ways. The opportunities and decisions are in front of us. So let’s acknowledge him in our ways today.

Photo by Gunnar Ridderström on Unsplash

Am I Willing?

Nearly every sermon I preach God convicts or corrects me. And this week’s sermon was no different. In 1 Peter 4:12-19, Peter connected suffering to glory. Specifically, Peter noted that when we share in Christ’s sufferings we share in his glory.

In preparing this sermon, I referenced a statement in Jerry Bridges’ book The Joy of Fearing God.

Lord, I am willing 
To receive what You give; 
To lack what You withhold; 
To relinquish what You take; 
To suffer what You inflict; 
To be what You require; 
And to do what You send me to do.

Jerry Bridges, The Joy of Fearing God, p. 246.

As I read that statement in each sermon this week, I thought about it. After the sermon, I reflected on it. And after reflection, God is using this statement to question me about my spiritual life.

Am I willing to receive whatever God gives, good or bad? Job suffered and received from the Lord good and bad. Job questioned, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:9)

Am I willing to lack what God doesn’t give? Paul was content with little or with much, in all circumstances (Philippians 4:11).

Am I willing to let go of what God takes, even if that means provision or certainty? God took Joseph away from his family and allowed him to become a slave and prisoner in Egypt for redemptive purposes (Genesis 50:20).

Am I willing experience suffering and difficulty at the hand of the Lord? Christ suffered for our salvation and understood it to be the declaration of God’s glory (John 17:5).

Am I willing to be transformed and made obedient to Christ? The aim of God’s work in our lives is to make us obedient and transform us into the very image of Christ (Romans 8:29).

Am I willing to go where God sends me on mission? God’s mission for his people is that we would make disciples of our neighbors and the nations (Matthew 18:18-20).

God has used this statement and these questions to reaffirm my purpose for living. I am not to live for myself, for my comfort, or for my sake. I do not exist for me. As a follower of Jesus, I should accept God’s good gifts as well as his difficult ones. As a follower of Jesus, I should be content with little or much. As a follower of Jesus, I should relinquish what God may take from me. As a follower of Jesus, I should embrace suffering and difficulty as a means of sharing in the wonders of God’s glory. As a follower of Jesus, I should seek transformation into the image of Christ. As a follower of Jesus, I should go to my neighbors and the nations seeking to lead them to become followers of Jesus.

I exist for God and for his glory.

The simple fact is, you are not the point of your life. You are not the star of your show. If you live for yourself, your own comfort, your own glory, your own fame, you will miss out on your very purpose. God created you to bring glory to him.

Tim Challies, Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity, p. 11.

The application of my own sermon this week for me is this:

  • I am going to live in submission to God. He’s in charge, not me. So I’m going to bow my will, seek him first, obey his commands, and trust his sovereignty in my life.
  • I am going to live on his mission for his glory seeking to lead others to follow Jesus. So I’m going to be intentional in my prayers, conversations, plans, and trips to lead others to follow Jesus.