“He has saved us and called us to a holy
life—not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and
grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time”—2 Timothy1:9(NIV).
“If you’re not ready to be criticized for your
obedience to God, you’re not ready to be used by God.” When I shared this quote
on Facebook from Craig Groeschel, Senior Pastor of LifeChurch.TV, I received
quite a few comments.
The response I found intriguing was the following:
“Interesting: The whole object of it is to be ‘used.” The statement was
followed by a frowning face emoticon.
For those who don’t use social media, an
emoticon is short for “emotion icon” and is a pictorial representation of a
facial expression. In absence of seeing someone face-to-face, it lets the
recipient understand the individual’s feelings or mood.
Curious about the writer of the above comment, I
went to his Facebook page. Although we are not friends on this social media
site, he can see my posts. I was surprised to see he describes himself as an
agnostic atheist.
Looking up the definition of an agnostic atheist, I found the
following: “They are atheistic because they do not hold a belief in the
existence of any deity and agnostic because they claim that the existence of a
deity is either unknowable in principle or currently unknown in fact.”
I replied to the agnostic atheist by saying, “...that
is our higher purpose. That is why we have been created...for HIS purposes.”
“Once the call of God comes
to you, start going and never stop.”
During a recent sermon series titled “You are the
Light of the World,” members of our congregation have shared their testimonies.
On the final Sunday of the series, an 80-year-old man shared a brief history of
his life. Jack, and his wife, Marie, are two of the most inspirational people
I’ve met since moving to Claremore because they accepted God’s call to be used
by Him for His purposes. After retiring, the two moved to Copper Canyon, Mexico
where they became missionaries to the Tarahumara Indians, a tribe of indigenous people.
As Jack shared his testimony that morning, he told about a day in Copper
Canyon when God had led him to give up his own shoes to a man who had none.
Because of Jack’s age and his tender feet, he was then carried back to his
truck by friends.
As the service came to an end the morning Jack gave his testimony, a man
who had recently returned to Claremore asked to speak. With tears in his eyes,
the man said, “Eighteen years ago, Jack planted seeds in my life and I just
wanted to say ‘thank you.’”
God has called us to plant seeds in the lives of others. That is our
higher purpose. Jesus Christ has brought us salvation—not because of what we
have done, but because of His own purpose and grace.
In Oswald Chambers’
devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, he wrote, “Once the call of God comes
to you, start going and never stop.”
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