James 4:14
Whereas ye know not
what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that
appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Ni hindi ninyo alam
kung ano ang mangyayari sa inyo sa araw ng bukas! Sapagkat ang buhay ninyo'y
parang aso---sandaling lumilitaw at pagdaka'y nawawala.
We don’t see things as they are,
We see them as we are.
Anais Nin
We have our own presuppositions in life. We have different
maps, perception, values.
The principles you lived by creates the world you
lived in.
How you define life determines your destiny.
Your perspective will influence how you invest your
time, spend your money, use your talents, and value your relationships.
One of the best ways to understand other people is to ask
them, ‘How do you see your life?
You will discover that there are as many
different answers to that question as there are people.
I've been told life is:
v A
circus,
v A
minefield,
v A
roller coaster,
v A
puzzle,
v A
symphony,
v A
journey,
v A
dance.
v People
have said, “Life is a carousel:
Sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down, and sometimes
you just go round and round”
v Or
“life is a ten-speed bicycle with gears we never use”
v Or
“life is a game of cards: You have to play the hand you are dealt.”
If I asked how you picture life, what image ~would come to
your mind?
That image is your life
metaphor. (figure of speech, symbol)
v It's
the view of life that you hold, consciously or unconsciously, in your
mind.
v It's
your description of how life works and what you expect from it.
People often express their life metaphors through
clothes, jewelry, cars, hairstyles, bumper stickers, even tattoos.
Your unspoken life metaphor influences your life more than
you realize.
It determines your expectations, your values, your
relationships, your goals, and your priorities.
For instance:
- If you
think life is a party, your primary value in life will be having fun.
- If you
see life as a race, you will value speed and will probably be in a hurry much of the time.
- If you
view life as a marathon, you will value endurance.
- If you
see life as a battle or a game, winning
will be very important to you.
What is your view of life?
You may be basing your life on a faulty life metaphor.
To fulfill the purposes God made you for, you will have to
challenge conventional wisdom and replace it with the biblical metaphors
of life.
The Bible says & Rom 12:2, “And
be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is that
good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
The Bible offers three metaphors that teach us God's view of
life:
Life is a test,
life is a trust, and life is a temporary assignment.
These ideas are the foundation of purpose-driven living. We
will look at the first two in this message and the third one in the next.
I.
Life on earth is a Test.
This life metaphor is seen in stories throughout the Bible.
God continually tests people's character, faith,
obedience, love, integrity, and loyalty.
Words like trials, temptations, refining, and testing occur
more than 200 times in the Bible.
v God
tested Abraham by asking him to offer his son Isaac.
v God
tested Jacob when he had to work extra years to earn Rachel as his wife.
v Adam
and Eve failed their test in the Garden of Eden,
v And
David failed his tests from God on several occasions.
v But
the Bible also gives us many examples of people who passed a great test, such
as Joseph, Ruth, Esther, and Daniel.
Character is both developed and revealed by tests,
and all of life is a test.
You are always being
tested. God constantly watches your response to people, problems,
success, conflict, illness, disappointment, and even the weather!
He even watches the simplest actions such as when you open a
door for others, when you pick up a piece of trash, or when you're polite
toward a clerk or waitress.
We don't know all the tests God will give you, but we can
predict some of them, based on the Bible.
You will be tested by major changes, delayed
promises, impossible problems, unanswered prayers, undeserved criticism, and
even senseless tragedies.
In our own life, we should have noticed that God tests our
faith through problems, tests my hope by how I handle possessions,
and tests my love through people.
A very important test is how you act when you can't feel
God's presence in your life.
Sometimes God intentionally draws back, and we don't sense
his closeness.
A king named Hezekiah experienced this test.
The Bible says in & 2 Chron.32:31, “Howbeit
in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon
Hezekiah had enjoyed a close fellowship with God, but at a
crucial point in his life God left him alone to test his character, to
reveal a weakness, and to prepare him for more responsibility.
When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your
life.
Even the smallest incident has significance for your
character development.
Every day is an important day, and every second is a growth
opportunity to deepen your character, to demonstrate love, or to depend on God.
Some tests seem overwhelming, while others you don't even
notice. But all of them have eternal implications.
The good news is that God wants you to pass the tests
of life, so he never allows the tests you face to be greater than the grace he
gives you to handle them.
The Bible says in & 1 Cor. 10:13, “There
hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that
ye may be able to bear it.”
Every time you pass
a test, God notices and makes plans to reward you in eternity.
James says in & James 1:12 ,
“Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the
Lord hath promised to them that love him.”
Mapalad ang taong nananatiling tapat, sa kabila ng mga
pagsubok; sapagkat matapos siyang subukin, tatanggap
siya ng putong. Ito'y ang buhay na ipinangako ng Panginoon sa mga
umiibig sa kanya.
II.
Life on earth is a Trust.
This is the second biblical metaphor of life.
Our time on earth and our energy, intelligence,
opportunities, relationships, and resources are all gifts from God that
he has entrusted to our care and management.
We are stewards of whatever God gives us.
This concept of stewardship begins with the recognition
that God is the owner of everything and everyone on earth.
The Bible says in & Psalm 24:1, “The
earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell
therein.”
We never really own anything during our brief stay on earth.
God just loans the earth to us while we're here. We are allowed to use it for 60, 70, 80
years.
It was God's property before you arrived, and God
will loan it to someone else after you die. You just get to enjoy it for a
while.
When God created Adam and Eve, he entrusted the care of his
creation to them and appointed them trustees of his property.
The Bible says in & Gen. 1:28, “And
God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the
earth.”
The first job God gave humans was to manage and take care of
God's ‘stuff’ on earth.
This role has never been cancelled. It is a part of our
purpose today.
Everything we enjoy is to be treated as a trust that
God has placed in our hands.
The Bible says in & 1 Cor 4:7, “For
who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not
receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst
not received it?”
Ano ang kahigtan ninyo sa iba? Hindi ba
lahat ng nasa inyo'y kaloob ng Diyos? Kung gayon, bakit ninyo ipinagyayabang na
waring hindi kaloob sa inyo?
Years ago, you gave a vaction to us we went to Puerto
Princesa and Pastor And Mrs. Quiratman let us use their beautiful home in the
very heart of the city.
It was an experience
we could never have afforded, and we enjoyed it immensely. We were told, ‘Use
it just like it's yours,’ so we did!
We slept in their own bedroom, ate the food in the
refrigerator, used the bath towels and dishes, and even jumped on the beds in
fun!
But we knew all along that it wasn't really ours, so we took
special care of everything. We enjoyed the benefits of using the home without
owning it.
Our culture says, ‘If you don't own it, you won't
take care of it.
But Christians live by a higher standard: ‘Because God owns
it, I must take the best care of it that I can.’
The Bible says in & 1 Cor 4:2, “Moreover
it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”
Jesus often referred to life as a trust and told many
stories to illustrate this responsibility toward God.
In the story of the talents, a businessman entrusts his
wealth to the care of his servants while he's away.
When he returns, he evaluates each servant's responsibility
and rewards them accordingly.
The owner says in &Matt 25:21, “His
lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been
faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou
into the joy of thy lord.”
At the end of your life on earth you will be evaluated
and rewarded according to how well you handled what God entrusted to you.
That means everything you do, even simple daily chores, has
eternal implications.
If you treat
everything as a trust, God promises three rewards in eternity.
- First,
you will be given God's affirmation:
He will say, ‘Good job! Well done!’
- Next,
you will receive a promotion and
be given greater responsibility in eternity: ‘I will put you in charge of
many things.’
- Then
you will be honored with a celebration: ‘Come and share your
Master's happiness.’
Most people fail to realize that money is both a test
and a trust from God. God uses finances to teach us to trust him, and for many
people, money is the greatest test of all. God watches how we use money to test
how trustworthy we are.
The Bible says in & Luke 16:11, “If
therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit
to your trust the true riches?
This is a very important truth. God says there is a direct
relationship between how I use my money and the quality of my spiritual
life.
How I manage my money (worldly
wealth') determines how much God can trust me with spiritual
blessings ('true riches').
Let me ask you:
v Is
the way you manage your money preventing God from doing more in your
life?
v Can
you be trusted with spiritual riches?
Jesus said in & Luke 12:48, “But
he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with
few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much
required: and to whom
men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”
Life is a test and a
trust, and the more God gives you, the more responsible he expects you to be.
DAY FIVE
THINKING ABOUT MY PURPOSE
Point to Ponder: Life
is a test and a trust.
Verse to Remember: “He that is faithful in that which is least
is faithful also in much…” Luke
16:10a.
Question to Consider:
What has happened to me recently that I now realize was a test from God?
What are the greatest matters God has entrusted to me?
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