Skip to main content

A Spiritual Life Plan

            An off-handed comment changed John Goddard’s life forever.  At a dinner party, fifteen year old John heard a family friend remark, “I’d give anything to be John’s age again.  I really would do things differently.  I would set out and accomplish more of the dreams of my youth”.  That remark motivated John to create a list of 127 things that he wanted to do before he died.  Some of them were rather common (Number 126: Marry and have children) while others required considerable courage (Number 1: Explore the Nile River.  He fulfilled that one by becoming the first man to kayak from the headwaters of the Nile to the Mediterranean).  By the time of his death in 2013, at the age of 88, John had checked off 111 of his original 127 goals earning him the nickname “The real-life Indiana Jones”. 
            Goddard’s story made me wonder, “What would a ‘spiritual life goals’ list look like and what would that cause us to do?”   Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesus may be a good place to start.
            “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesus 3:14-19).
            What if that became your prayer?  What would happen if you focused on God’s strength working in and through you?  What would change if you remembered that, as a Christian, God’s Son and his Spirit dwell in you?  What if your every word and action was motivated by love for God and love for people?  What would it look like if you were “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God?”
            “What do I want to be when I grow up?” is a powerful question.
            Even more powerful is, “What does God want me to be when I grow up spiritually?”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

New Article: A Path Worth Following

  Jehoram was a terrible king.  He reigned in Judah around the year 850 B.C. and he did not care about God or his people.  His first act as king was to assassinate his six brothers so that no one could challenge his authority.  He was brutal and selfish.   Therefore, when the Bible sums up his life, it says, “Jehoram… passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David” (2 Chronicles 21:20).  Did you catch that?  “To no one’s regret!”  What a terrible phrase for your tombstone. On the other hand, consider a lady named Tabitha.  She lived in the city of Joppa in the first century A.D. and we are told, “… she was always doing good and helping the poor” (Acts 9:36).  She became sick and died.  This caused the community so much grief that they called Peter, who was in the nearby town of Lydda, to come and help them.  When Peter arrived, a crowd gathered, bringing all the robes and other clothing that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This.... Which Way Are You Leaning?

   When Ben Patterson agreed to join three friends climbing Mount Lyell, the highest point in Yosemite National Park, he did not realize what he was signing up for.  Early in the day, it became clear that he was completely unprepared for the task.  In an effort to keep up with his more experienced friends, Ben took a shortcut.  It did not occur to him that there might be a reason the others had not selected this route, but he soon found out why.  Ben became stuck on the glacier.  He could not move up, down or sideways and one wrong move would send him sliding down a forty-five-degree slope to the valley floor miles below.   That is when one of his friends came to the rescue. His buddy leaned over the edge and carved some footholds in the ice.  He told Ben to step to the first foothold and immediately swing his other foot to the second, then his buddy would pull him to safety.  Lastly, his friend gave him one more piece of advice....
Post a Comment
Read more