When Jesus sent out the twelve disciples on their mission, He said: As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of Heaven has come near’ (Matt. 10:7). This was the same command Jesus gave to His disciples before His ascension into heaven (cf. Matt. 28:19).
Called for a Purpose
Our life on earth is very short. Time passes by quickly. We miss out on the important things that matter the most and, worse, we do not value the things we should.
Those of us who are born-again are called to a vocation: to preach the Kingdom of God. We do not live for ourselves, but for Christ. Our lives do not belong to ourselves but to the Kingdom’s purpose. Our time belongs to God. Whatever we own and use belongs to God.
Not of this world
While we live on this earth, everything we do or aspire to do must be in accordance with God’s call and purpose. Doing is important but being is more important than doing. We belong to God and we are called to live in intimate communion with Him. This is precisely what the disciples learned from the Lord Jesus Christ as they walked with Him.
Jesus said, “His disciples are not of this world”(John 17:16). And so, as children of God, we must live our lives very differently than the sons of darkness. We are starkly different, like light and darkness, life and death, cleanliness and dirt, beauty and ugliness. Our focus, direction, and purpose are very different. As children of God, we must consider what we lived for and longed for during our sojourn on earth.
The Gospel in and through our lives
Jesus has sent us into the world. He said, “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (John 17:18). The world is not friendly to anyone who desires to live a godly life. We must not take the world for granted as an amusement park and be deceived by its attractions and distractions.
The greatest contentment of a child of God is to live securely in the good, pleasing and perfect will of the Father. When we are at the centre of the Father’s will, we can be secure in the midst of life’s challenges in this world.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever (Psalms 73:25-26).
Therefore, beloved, the Gospel is not only part of our life, but our entire life. We cannot think of proclaiming Christ only from our pulpits. The proclamation of the Gospel occurs in and through our lives.
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
