What is the Christian's Goal?

This morning during my time with the lord I was thinking about what really matters within the Christian faith.  There are so many blessings given to us by God, and so many ways for us to bless God.  After the blessing of salvation by the death and resurrection of Jesus is there something else we should be concentrating our lives on?

God has given us all gifts and ministries.  Some may seem small but they are essential to the plan of God.  For each Christian this is the area they should be concentrating on, but that is not the whole story.

Why does God give us gifts and ministries?  It is not so we can get a thrill running down our backs.  God gives us the tools to fulfill His plan for the world.  We ought to be ashamed of ourselves for forgetting the goal   It is like a sponsor giving you a great car to win the race in, but you get so enamored with the car that you forget that your goal is to win the race.

I believe God works miracles today.  I believe in tongues, healing, and prophecy.  I also believe in the gifts of wisdom, knowledge and faith.  I believe that they do exist today, but I also know that so many times Christians get hung up on these gifts.  They are constantly seeking to experience these gifts.  They will travel hundreds of miles to go a church where these gift have been reported to be appearing.  They are seeking the thrill of the gifts.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:23-25, "I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.  Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?  Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.  They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever."

Your gifts and your ministry are the tools for the race.  They are your race car.  They are to be used for "...the sake of the gospel...".  Our lives are to used, and at times even sacrificed, to bring the good news of the salvation of Jesus Christ to those who do not know Him.  The blood of Jesus Christ was sacrificed for them.  The Son of God died for them.  You recognize the sacrifice of Jesus as the greatest blessing in your life, but do you recognize that the greatest way to bless God is to bring others to understand the salvation of Jesus Christ in their lives as well?  What have we done for the lost?

"And He said to the, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  he who believes and is baptized will be saved: but he who does not believe will be condemned."  Mark 16:15-16

Photo by Ron Smith on Unsplash