A short reading and prayers for today
But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.
Acts 20:24 NLT
What’s the purpose of your life? We all have to agree that this is an excellent question, but most of the time we are far too busy to be able to ask it. We may be busy with our work, family, church, hobbies, sport and a thousand other things and asking the biggest question of all gets put off. We promise ourselves that we will ask it one day when we’ve got a bit more time! For the apostle Paul the moment was now because he recognised that his life was under threat and he might not have much time left.
Paul was clear that his life’s work was to communicate the Good News about the wonderful grace of God revealed in Jesus. What an amazing ministry he had! His leadership, teaching and example were of incalculable importance and we are still deeply conscious of our debt to him. In all honesty our roles are unlikely to have the same world-shaking significance but each of our lives is important and we need to make sure that we use our time well. This life isn’t a rehearsal for anything. It’s the real thing and we need to ensure that we are giving our best.
I have the privilege of mentoring a number of people and those conversations are all focused on helping my mentees to reflect on the direction of their lives. Not everyone will have a mentor but it is valuable for all of us to have such highly focused conversations with someone else from time to time. The busyness of life can very easily push such times of reflection to the margins but they need to happen and we are wise to set aside time to ensure that they do.
QUESTION
How would you describe the purpose of your life?
PRAYER
Lord God, thank you for the gift of my life and for every opportunity that you give me to serve you. Amen
Heavenly Father, whose blessed Son was revealed to destroy the works of the devil
and to make us the children of God and heirs of eternal life:
Grant that we, having this hope,
may purify ourselves even as he is pure;
that when he shall appear in power and great glory,
we may be made like him
in his eternal and glorious kingdom;
where he is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.