A Great Life?

So, how would you define a great life?
Being wealthy enough to buy all the 'toys' your heart desires?
Being healthy 'til the day you die?
Being famous, applauded by people?
Being able to go fishing at least two days a week and catching your legal limit every time? Hitting 715 homeruns in your baseball career? Two kids, a wife, and a house with a white picket fence? The list could go on!

Jim Collins, in a book entitled Good to Great (Harper Collins, 2001), written about American companies and why some of them grow, writes this-
"It is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life; and it very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. Only then can you have the tranquility that comes from knowing you've had a hand in creating something of intrinsic excellence that makes a contribution. Indeed, you might even gain the deepest of all satisfactions: knowing that your short time here on earth has been well spent, and that it mattered."

I don't know what Mr. Collins' spiritual background is, but that paragraph points to a great life! A great life is not attained by accumulating power, money, or other symbols of 'success.' Nor is a great life reached by self-indulgence, creating a life that is packed with pleasure and 'fun'- though for many, perhaps most, Americans that is the apparent goal of life. A great life is one that is focused on creating excellence, making a genuine difference in the world, for the 7 or 8 decades in which we are privileged to breath the air of this planet.

Achieving that mark demands one more step - receiving Jesus Christ as Lord - and then; finding and living in the purpose for which He created you.

The Bible says, "God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly." (Romans 12:6-8, NLT) Some of you just read that as 'church speak' disconnected from your 'real' life in the world. That is wrong, and I want to urge you to go back and re-read it as a way to live in every part of your life. Go back - read it again!

God has put certain gifts at your disposal, spiritual endowments that you uniquely can use, and He expects that you will use those gifts to make a difference - not just in your church a couple of hours each week - but everywhere, all the time. Greatness, in God's eyes, is not reserved for a few privileged people. It is available to every man and woman who submits his or her life to Christ. "Anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 5:19, NLT) Great people see each day as a sacred trust, and find ways to add value wherever they are!

Perhaps you're on the 'Mommy track' right now and think that your life is one of obscure servitude, as you wipe noses, deliver kids to school and Little League practice, and pick up after your thoughtless husband. You can do those things with gritted teeth, resenting each day, or you can add value - becoming a great Mom and a discovering opportunities to build character in the lives you influence in hundreds of ways each day.

Maybe you're stuck in a job that seems pointless, where you have little freedom to be creative. You can find meaning as you invest yourself in the people around you. You're thinking - "Come on, Jerry, get real! They hate this place as much as I do." - aren't you? If the Word is true, you are different from the inside out, so add value to your workplace by taking Christ with you to that office. Don't let the darkness envelop you; break it up by being light. No matter how vast the darkness, it cannot overcome the smallest light. Darkness is a void which is always filled with Light!

Do you attend a church marked by mediocrity, full of people who like low accountability and who do what they do without any passion for God; a church full of people who criticize and resist excellence? There's a place to become great! I mean it. Instead of joining in with those who suck life out of the air, become a person who asks God, the Spirit, to radiate His life and joy from you. Determine to become the best (you'll be attacked) at what you do for God there. Determine to hit the mark of excellence, even though it earns you scorn or even outright rejection. You will inspire a few, and gradually the few will become a majority with God's help, turning a 'hopeless' situation into a thing of God's glory.

Choose greatness. Pursue it with all of your heart, mind, and strength.

"We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward.
Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven."
(Hebrews 12:2, NLT)