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Plainly Speaking
with Karl J. Forehand
Living
Purposefully
(1 Peter 4:1-3)
by
Karl J. Forehand
Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also
with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased
from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the
lusts of men, but for the will of God.
For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out
the desire of the Gentiles, (1 Peter
4:1-3a)
Last
week seemed like funeral week in our community. Funerals tend to remind us that our life is short and has a
deadline to it. We realize we are
living in the “last days” as the spiritual activity seems to be increased –
God is providing harvest and Satan is ambitiously attacking. The second coming of Christ seems to be
imminent. All these things help us
realize, the deadline is fast approaching.
The
phrase “for the rest of time” seems become even more urgent in our
lives. Our lives are a vapor and we
must begin to live our lives more purposefully. We no longer can afford to “list” through life. We must turn the engines on, get pointed
in the right direction and put the throttle down.
Sometimes we lose our purpose.
Someone once said, “When you are up to your neck in alligators, it is
easy to forget your purpose was to drain the swamp. We must regain our purpose.
- Live
in the flesh
At first, this sounds like bad
advice. We are not longer to live for
the flesh. We have to live the resurrected
life, but we have to do it in the flesh.
There are some that are so spiritual, they are no earthly good. Until we leave this earth, we have to
operate in these bodies that God has given us. To be rightly spiritual is to understand the mind of God which
wants us to use these bodies (words, actions, attitudes) to impact other
humans whom God loves.
We have spiritual life and power, but we have do it in this
“tent.” What does this passage say
about that?
We will suffer (we are called to participate). For those of us that resist and avoid
suffer, we must get over it. We have
to stop trying to avoid it – it is part of the deal. In fact, we should start enjoying
it (James 1:2). We have to go through
it. Since Christ suffered, we will
have to “arm ourselves with the same purpose.” What is that purpose?
We must cease from sin (we are called to emulate). God forgives us, but He loves us too much
to leave us the way we are. We have
to get purposeful about living sinless lives. Sinlessness is not a means to an end – it is the end.
We can also get excited about the victory (we are called to
overcome). God really can help us
overcome the situation in our lives.
It will be through suffering – it will be overcoming sin and it’s
power – it can be victorious.
We can’t avoid the fact that we have to live in these bodies and face
all that entails. We must live
purposefully and face the challenges head on.
2. Live not for your lusts
Someone suggested that we do most
things to gain pleasure or avoid pain.
That is often very true, but pain and pleasure should be the
motivators or right behavior. The
Christian life is not like that. We
must be motivated by the eternal attributes of joy (not pleasure), peace (not
absence of turmoil) and eternal significance (not momentary pleasure). We eventually must face some pain in our
lives. We also must delay some
momentary pleasure for eternal gain.
If we are going to live life purposefully, we can live it for what
pleases us. We can’t live life for
what we desire. We can’t simply go
after the things we want. Sam Walton
expresses it this way, “Swim upstream.”
He suggested that a proper way to evaluate decisions is to observe the
masses and do the opposite. If our
society is unanimously promoting self-indulgence and self-preservation, we
often have to “swim upstream” and realize we often have to suffer and we
can’t just pursue the things that please us.
It may be our idea of success; but it is not God’s formula.
Some one “cut a donut” in our church parking lot. Around here, they call it “whippin’ a
kitty.” It means driving your car in
a tight circle so that you form a round rut in the yard or parking lot. The main purpose of this action is to have
a momentary rush of pleasure, even though it destroys property. It is a symbol of sinful man. We go about our lives and see an
opportunity for momentary pleasure and we take it. We “whip a kitty” in our life.
God’s Word says this is a characteristic of the old man, not the new.
To live purposefully, we have to stop letting the lusts of our lives
drive us. What should we do?
3. Live for the Will of God
What is the will of God? God’s
will is not hidden like we sometimes imagine; but we have to read God’s Word
to understand it. One list of things
is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:14-22:
- admonish the unruly
- encourage the fainthearted
- help the weak
- be patient with all
men
- see that no one repays
another with evil for evil
- seek after that which is
good for one another and for all men
- rejoice always
- pray without ceasing
- in everything give thanks
- do not quench the Spirit
- do not despise prophetic
utterances.
- examine everything carefully
- hold fast to that which is good
- abstain from every form of
evil.
Romans 12:2 tells us, “And do
not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good
and acceptable and perfect.” We learn
God’s will by obeying Him and allowing Him to transform us.
People often ask me questions
like, “Should I take this job?” I
tell them, “I don’t know.” To
understand God’s will in our situations we have to separate means and
end. The Fruits of the Spirit in
Galatians 5 are intended to be ends, not means to an end. Love can become a means when we use it to
get something else; but “agape” love is supposed to be and end (a
fruit). Joy can become superficial
when we manufacture it to get a certain desired outcome. Peace can be a means when we try to create
it instead of allowing it to be and end (the presence of God).
When people ask, “Should I take
this job? Is it God’s will?”, they
should be asking “What end will this job bring me. Will it help me fulfill God’s purposes in my life.” If the job or the house or the car are an
end, then they are wrong.
Dan Rather asked the question
this way, “Is what I am doing right now helping the broadcast?” We should ask, “Is this action or this
purchase or this goal going to help the Kingdom?” If the house is a means to popularity, notoriety or to create
some artificial peace, then it is creating the wrong end or being used as an
end itself.
Regaining our purpose
Yogi Berra customarily talked to the
batter s that stood in front of him.
If you have participated in any athletics you know this is a big part
of the game. Hank Aaron was at the
plate one day and Yogi began to try to intimidate him. He said, “You’re holding the bat wrong –
you’re supposed to be able to read the label when you are batting.” Hank didn’t say anything, but promptly hit
the ball over the left-field fence.
As he crossed home plate, he exclaimed to Yogi, “I didn’t come up here
to read!”
We have to know, like Aaron,
what our purpose is. Primarily, we
must become children of God by accepting His free gift of salvation. Then, we must fulfill the end He has for
our lives and live that purpose like we mean it.
Karl J. Forehand, 2002
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