Finish The Race
Does God know who you are?
Of all the billions of people in the world, does He really care about you?
Please consider the story of the prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 1: 4-8 tells us “Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Then said I: “Ah, Lord God: Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.”
The Lord formed Jeremiah in the womb. He knew him before he was born. Then he sanctified him, or set him apart, to be a prophet to the nations.
He had a plan for Jeremiah before he was born. Then He promised to be with him as he went to do what God had planned for him. Do you think it is any different for you? God formed you in the womb. He had a plan for you and He set you apart to fulfill that plan. And He plans to go with you. Yes, God knows who you are and He really does care about you.
God doesn’t need any of us. He created this entire universe and everything in it. He can accomplish His plans without us. But He chooses to use each one of us because He loves us and wants to be with us, to work with us. He chooses to use you. He wants only the best for you and that includes using you as a tool to finish His work, to build His kingdom, to spread his gospel to the nations, to make disciples and to bring glory to His holy name.
Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” He was speaking to those that had been carried away captive to Babylon. Do you think they thought God cared about them? They had been defeated, their homes destroyed, and they were taken prisoner and led to a foreign country to serve the pagan king that ruled over Bablyon. But God tells them that in all of their hopeless desperation, He knows them, and He has thoughts of peace towards them, to give them a future and a hope. Just as he knew the thoughts He had towards them, He also knows the thoughts He has toward you to give you a future and a hope.
In Galatians 1: 15-16, we read Paul’s words, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood.” Just as God did with Jeremiah, He separated or ‘set apart’ Paul from birth to preach about Him to the Gentiles. Yes, God knows each one of us and has a plan for each of us.
Please consider the words of Paul once again in Ephesians 1: 3-6: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” Wow! There is so much for us in this one statement. Please focus for now on the statement “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy.” He chose us. He chose you and He chose me. He created us before we were born. That we should be holy, or ‘set apart’. We are adopted as sons and daughters of Jesus Christ himself according to His good pleasure. The very God of this universe is pleased to call you His son or His daughter. Why? For the praise of the glory of His grace. We were created for worship. We were created to praise Him.
Revelation 4: 11 says “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by your will they exist and were created.” All creation exists for one purpose: To give glory to God. We were created to praise Him and give Him glory.
God not only knew us before the creation of the world. He also placed a calling on each of our lives. He sanctified us or set us apart. Do you believe you have been called by God? His word says that you have. This is what Peter says ‘to those who believe’: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” – 1 Peter 2: 9. God has called you out of the darkness, the evil of this world, into his light ‘that you may proclaim the praises of Him’. You are chosen and called.
Consider the story of Esther. Esther was chosen as queen in the kingdom of Persia and Media. She was instrumental in saving the Jews from being destroyed. In Esther 4: 14, Mordecai is pleading with Queen Esther for the Jews. We read “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Consider the path of your life. Be careful to always do the right thing, what is right in God’s eyes, because you may be in your current situation ‘for such a time as this’. God may place you in a situation that He might use you to fulfill His plan even though you cannot see and know His plan. Be faithful and He will use you.
Please also consider the words of Paul to Timothy. In 1 Timothy 4:14, we read “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.” Whatever gift God has given you, do not neglect it. We are all given gifts by the Holy Spirit and we need to apply them as God leads us. You have a gift (or gifts) from the Holy Spirit. Do you believe that? If you are not sure what your gift is, search and find out. Talk to your spiritual mentor. Study the gifts of the Spirit in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12.
Paul goes on in 2 Timothy 1: 8-10: “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” God has saved us and called us with a holy calling for His own purpose. But it is only through His grace and ‘not according to our works.’
We were created for good works, not that our works have anything to do with salvation. Salvation comes only through the grace of God as we believe in Him. But if we come to God through faith, we should have a desire to do His good works, the works He has prepared for each of us. Ephesians 2: 10 tells us “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” When God created each of us, He also prepared good works for each of us to do.
1 Timothy 6:18-19 tells us “Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” As we trust in the living God, we need to do good works, be ‘ready to give, willing to share’ that we may lay hold on eternal life with Christ.
Similarly we read in Titus 3: 8: “This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.”
So how do I know the works He has for me to do? What is God’s plan for my life? It sounds good to know that God created me with a purpose and a plan but how do I find out what that plan is? First, spend time studying God’s word. He has given us instructions on how to live.
Micah 6: 8: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Deuteronomy 10: 12-13: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?”
Matthew 22: 37-40: “Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.’”
He has told us how to live but it all comes down to this. Love God and love others as He loves them. Live a selfless life, preferring others ahead of yourself. He created others in His image just as He created us in His image. They are precious to Him. They should be precious to us. I know people that I don’t really even like, much less love. How can I learn to love them? Only through the spirit of God that dwells in me. In Matthew 14:14, we read “And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.” This was a crowd that had come together to see Jesus, to hear him, not because they believed on Him but because they were curious. They had heard stories of Jesus and came to find out who this strange man was. But Jesus loved them all. He had compassion for them. Do we react the same? Do we see a crowd and react with compassion and love for them? If we want to live for Jesus and serve Him, we need to draw so near to Him that it is a natural reaction for us to look at those around us with compassion, with love, and see their needs. They needed healing that day and Jesus healed them. It says He ‘healed their sick’. It doesn’t say He touched the most righteous person in the crowd and healed him. He had compassion on the crowd and healed their sick, all of them. If we wish to be someone that Jesus can use, we must learn how to love people like He loves them. Only then can we tap into that supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to reach others and bless them.
There are many more scriptures we could reference on how to live. Galatians 5 tells of the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. Ephesians 5 also explains much about how we should live. If we want to know the plan God has for our lives, we first need to learn how He says we should live. If we follow the guidelines He has already given us and always strive to do what is right in God’s eyes, He will guide us in the paths He has for us.
Another way we can know God’s plan for our life is to spend time in prayer seeking His will for our lives. Ask God to show you the plan for your life. He may not tell you all His plans, but He will guide you. He will open and close the right doors. Consider the life of Daniel. God never told Daniel “Here’s my plan.” But Daniel was faithful in every situation to trust God and do what was right in God’s sight and God directed every step of his life. As Micah said, “do justly”. In other words, ‘do the right thing’.
As Jesus completed His ministry here on earth, He gave what has been called the Great Commission. This is presented in Matthew 28: 18-20 and Mark 16: 15-18. In Matthew we read “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”
If you want to know what Jesus wants you to do, do this. Go and make disciples, baptizing them, teaching them, and He will be with you. And always remember that He has all authority in heaven and earth. It’s not what we can do in our own strength. It’s all about what God can do when we surrender everything to His control.
If you want to tap into the supernatural power of almighty God, believe in Him, believe what He says, and trust Him to do what He has promised.
And never let people look down on your youth. Go back to Jeremiah chapter one. In verses 7 and 8, we read “But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth’, for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.”
In 1 Timothy 4: 12, Paul told Timothy “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” If you want to know what God’s plan is for your life, first ‘be an example to the believers.’
When we think of Old Testament prophets such as Jeremiah and Daniel, we think of bald old men with flowing white beards clothed in brown robes much like a monk. We don’t think of teenagers. But both of these began serving God when they were young. They served God in their youth and did great things. If you look back at the spiritual revivals in America, most began because of the fervent work and prayer of young people. Consider Evan Roberts who was the principle catalyst for the Welsh Revival of 1904. Evan had been praying for years for a revival when it finally broke out in Wales. He was 26 years old in 1904. God uses young people to do some of His greatest work.
Then remain steadfast. Persevere. Don’t give up. Or as Paul told Timothy, “fulfill your ministry.” In 2 Timothy 4: 5 he says “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” In the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, the letters conclude with promises for those who overcome, who remain steadfast, who persevere. Be an overcomer and ‘fulfill your ministry’.
Walk worthy of your calling. As Paul said, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.” – Ephesians 4: 1&2. Please read Ephesians 5: 15-21 as it gives good instruction in how to walk in wisdom.
Paul summed it up in Philippians 3: 13-14: “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Run the race and finish well. Be like Paul who summed up his life in 2 Timothy 4: 6-8: “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
Look forward to heaven. I have a vision in my mind of that day when I cross over from this life and I see Jesus face to face. I see Him coming to meet me with His arms open wide as He says, “Welcome Home, my good and faithful servant.” Then it will be worth it all. I often read Deuteronomy 34: 10-12: “But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, and by all the mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.” What a statement, ‘like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face’. Wow! I wonder what my life could have been like if I would have trusted God more, if I would have truly surrendered everything to Him.
Wrapping up, I want to share something my mother wrote and sent to me when I was a young man after I had left home. She sent me a book to read and enclosed this scrap of paper.
“If what I ask will not glorify your name, don’t grant it. And if you don’t, then give me the strength to glorify your name without it. She referenced John 14: 13 (Jesus speaking): “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” Desire above all else that God be glorified. When that is our primary concern, we can be confident that He will answer our prayer.”
Just to summarize,
Know that God knows you and has a plan for you.
God has a calling on your life.
You were created for good works.
Learn to love like Jesus loves.
Persevere.
Walk worthy of your calling.
Fulfill your ministry.
Look forward to heaven.
