Living On Purpose
.
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
1. Working together with him, then, we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2. For he says, "At the acceptable time I have listened to you, and helped you on the day of salvation." Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 3. We put no obstacle in any one's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4. but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5. beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, watching, hunger; 6. by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, 7. truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8. in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9. as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10. as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. 11. Our mouth is open to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide. 12. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. 13. In return -- I speak as to children -- widen your hearts also.
Paul is beseeching the Corinthians not to wait to begin living as they should.
The Message translation of verses 3-5 says: “Don’t put it off; don’t frustrate God’s work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we’re doing. Our work as God’s servants gets validated—or not—in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times; when we’re beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating . . .” In other words, do what needs to be done to bring about the kingdom of God on earth—“just do it.”
The world will scorn us. The world will even think we’re mad! But the world will be watching us. And how we act, what we do, and how we do it, says it all. Don’t strive for glory, don’t ask for thanks. Don’t expect praise—just the opposite. But God sees all. His glory is what we work for, his thanks is our reward. Paul goes on to say that even though the world may get us down, we’re not out. No matter what we endure, it will not be so severe that God can’t get us through it. And no matter what we endure, it could never compare to Jesus dying on the cross.
Living as Christians, fully and completely, gives us a tremendous freedom that the world doesn’t have, or know, or understand. We are free to be truly ourselves, living fully and completely, because we do not fear death. We don’t need man’s approval or acceptance, so we are able to live the way we should. We don’t rely on worldly possessions, worldly success, worldly power. We rely only upon God, through the risen Christ. What a wonderful way to live! On purpose. Free. Full of hope and joy.
The world is watching. What message do we want them to hear from us? What example do we want to set? What can we tell them when they want to know how we can remain steadfast, hopeful, joyful, generous, and loving in the face of adversity? How can we explain to them why we don’t fear war, or famine, tsunamis, or even death? With one word: Jesus.
I hope you spend today living fully, spreading the good news by your example. And that you have the opportunity to speak the name above all names to at least one person who does not know the answer to the question, “How?”
Mary
