Confession:

We confess that we often live our lives and make our plans for our own good.

Prayer:

We pray that we will live our lives in the truth that we are placed here and now in order to seek God and help others do the same. (Acts 17:26-27)

From the time I began learning about life, I was taught that everything I do is to better serve me. The better I paid attention in class, the higher my grades would be and the better chance I had of succeeding in life. The more I learned how to be around other people, the better I would be at making friends, and the happier I would be socially. It even extended to church. When it was time for Bible trivia, I wanted to make sure I was the one who knew the last book of the Old Testament or who begat the guy who begat David’s Uncle. As long as I did that, and attended regularly, and signed up for the leadership team I would learn how to be a Christian.

This isn’t the calling we are called to. God has us where we are and when we are in order to seek Him, and help others do the same. This means that we should make our plans, from the everyday to the long-term based around those two callings. What if our decision about where to get our coffee wasn’t based on location or price, but on our ability to engage the baristas with the gospel? Or what if we choose a career path based our ability to use our gifts to reach our surroundings for Christ, not based on salary or job security.

Let’s pray this week to change our mindsets about our mission in life. This won’t be easy, and it will require some painful and difficult changes. It will take intentional, authentic community that is committed to keeping each other accountable about living life on mission.