We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. (Colossians 1:3-6 NIV)
WHY do you do what you do? It’s one of the most compelling questions a person can answer. The “Whys” of life influence our thinking and our actions; they explain much of the world around us. Our pastor has talked about how God radically saved him from death in an alcohol-induced car crash when he was 17, which led to his choice to follow Jesus. Our chiropractor said she chose the profession because her childhood chiropractor had helped her body dramatically heal of many illnesses. A friend now in her 60’s told me that she accepted Jesus as her savior and gave her heart to him at a summer camp when she was a child. Why does she serve God now? Because as a child she met him. Why does the chiropractor do what she does? Because she believes in God’s ability to heal the body through that work. Why does a pastor serve for decades? Because he knows the absolute calling on his life.
Why do I spend hours and hours and hours coordinating all the pieces and parts of a summer arts day camp for 5-12th graders? Because I know that God called me to do so. I know the spiritual legacy such a camp can have in a child’s life. I know how important it is for a young person to understand that they can use their God-given gifts to tell God’s story and to worship him. I know how powerful the arts are and I want them to be used for Kingdom purposes.
Why did a pagan named Abram pack up his family and go to the land God would later show him? Because he’d had a life-changing encounter with the God of the Universe. Why did the exiled shepherd Moses go back to Egypt to lead the Hebrew people out of slavery? Because he had a profound encounter with God in a burning bush. Why did the ostracized woman who had bled twelve years only want to touch the fringe of Jesus’s garment? Because she had absolute faith that this itinerant rabbi could heal her. Why did Jesus die on the cross for us? Because God loved us and wanted us to be a part of his Kingdom. It’s that simple.
“Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit…For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:5-6, 16-17 NIV)
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14 NIV)
Today, may we know in the depths of our being WHY we do what we do, and may we align all parts of our lives with the living, loving God who gives Kingdom-life through his Word and Spirit.
God,
In you all things were created for your purposes, plans, and glory. You are the head of the Church and have supremacy above all earthly things. Thank you that the fullness of God has been revealed to us in Jesus Christ and through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Thank you that you use different circumstances to call each of us into relationship with you, and you place within us the desires to serve you and to further your Kingdom. Today, draw to our memories the “why” of our relationship with you. Remind us of the “why” we do what we do. And further cement within us the desires to live in your grace, power, and freedom, as we yield ourselves to the leading of Holy Spirit and serve in your Kingdom. To you be glory, power, honor, worship, and praise forever and ever, AMEN.
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20 NIV)
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. (Revelation 1:5-6 NIV)