Our Stories
We're On A Mission From God
By Abigail Welborn | posted 11/19/2009
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10, NIV)
I have a question for you, and I want you to stop and think about it for a second. If you could look ahead 20 years and you had accomplished everything you wanted to do in that time, what would your life look like?
That question caught my attention as I was working through the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Workbook, which I'm using in conjunction with an informal book club on Stephen Covey's landmark book. I had so much fun thinking about and writing my answer to it! All positives and no limits! It even led me to a few wild ideas I hadn't yet realized were goals of mine.
I was reading about Habit 2, "Begin with the end in mind." One of the goals of Habit 2 is to create a personal mission statement, a description of what you want to do in life. You could view it as the synthesis of what you've already discovered about the specific purpose God has for your life.
Do you want to know the best part? You're already on your way to living that kind of life! By the time your life began, he had already prepared good works for you to do (Ephesians 2:10, above). He created you with your particular set of gifts and talents and put you in the time and place where you live so that you would find them. Why? Jesus said, "[L]et your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16, TNIV). When you are living in accordance with God's will, others will notice and praise God!
To me, the title 7 Habits of Highly Effective People sounds like a boring management book. If I were writing it, I would call it How to Make the Most of Every Day. Isn't that something we can all use a little help with? I haven't finished reading it yet, but so far I've found it extremely useful (albeit occasionally dry). Although the book is not overtly religious, Covey states in the introduction that the habits are based on principles he's observed to be true throughout human history. God is the source (and designer) of Truth and Correct Principles, so I'm not surprised that Covey's book dovetails so nicely with God's Word.
Regardless of whether you check out 7 Habits, I encourage you to do a little thinking about the End you have in mind. As we wrap up our series - living lives of vibrant color in a dreary world - I encourage you to envision what a godly life looks like for your circumstances. You can start as simply as asking yourself Doug's suggested question: "How would Jesus act if he were living my life?" Each of our lives is different, so our missions will be different, as well. But one thing we can be sure of: we're on a mission from God.
Abigail can be reached via email here. She has not actually seen the movie "Blues Brothers", but has absorbed the title phrase through cultural ooze. She would love to have a longer conversation with you about the 7 Habits and how to live a more effective life; feel free to e-mail or just catch her in the Welcome Area on a Sunday.
