The purpose of life

The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again."  John 12:25-28

At this particular time in His ministry, Jesus is predicting His suffering, His agony, His death. He knows what is to come and He is human. The humanity in Him shudders at the thought of His upcoming sacrifice and His soul is troubled. He clearly recognizes the two choices that lay before Him: “hate” His life and become a living sacrifice for all humanity or “love” His life and fail to glorify the Father and save the human race. This battle within Him troubles His soul.

Rarely in Scripture does it portray Jesus as having a heart that is troubled for Himself. Yet here, He is weighing the most important decision He will ever make...to go forward with the Father’s plan and suffer more than any man on earth has ever suffered or turn back in self-preservation. His prayers reveal the two options that He had, appeal to Father God to save Him or appeal to Father God for His name to be glorified. 

I believe that God would have answered either prayer. He would have saved Jesus from  the upcoming death if self-preservation had been Jesus’ choice. God would also cause His name to be glorified if that was the choice Jesus made. Praise God for all time that Jesus chose the second path...to glorify the Father and make a way for eternal relationship with Himself for the entire human race. 

These prayers of Jesus parallel the choices Jesus’ followers must make today. We can “love” our life, holding fast to any security, safety, and ease that it affords us...focused entirely on self-preservation. Or we can “hate” our lives, holding all that we have in open hands, trusting Father God to give and take as He deems best, focused on glorifying God above all else. And just as it was for Jesus, this choice can cause our hearts to be troubled. 

As His followers who desire to walk in obedience and be used by the Lord to bring others to Him, we must understand what Jesus said: “it was for this very reason I came to this hour.” Just like Jesus, there is a reason, a purpose, for each of us. God could have taken each of us to Heaven as soon as we accepted Jesus as our Savior, but He did not because each of us has a purpose on this earth. 

Our purpose is to glorify the Lord and point others to Him. We are His ambassadors, His representatives, His hands and feet to a lost and dying world. Our purpose is much greater than ourselves and our purpose requires that we lose ourselves in the bigger picture of God and His Kingdom plan. 

I can only speak for myself. I must make the same choice that Jesus made...to save my life for my sake or lose my life for His sake. This decision is not made once but time and again, day after day. And just like with Jesus, it will cause my heart to be troubled as my sinful, selfish human nature battles against the Holy Spirit’s guidance within me. 

As I choose to lose my life for His sake and continue to ask God to glorify His name with my life regardless of the short term outcome, the future becomes less clear. By not holding on to the “American Dream” lifestyle but instead, putting the future in His hands, uncertainty abounds. Where I will live, the relative safety and security of my life, what I will do with my time...all of this is uncertain. It is an adventure into unchartered territory. It brings to mind the words of a song by one of my favorite singers, Steven Curtis Chapman: 

Saddle up your horses we've got a trail to blaze

Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace

Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown

This is a life like no other - this is The Great Adventure

We blaze a new trail into the glorious unknown when we follow the Lord. Life isn’t predictable, it isn’t safe, it isn’t easy, but it is so very glorious. And, after all, that is what we were created for and the only place we will find true beauty, happiness, joy and eternal peace...when we live out the purpose that God has for our lives. Jesus made that choice and with His help, we too can make it each and every day.