REFLECTIONS
October 19, 2008
 
 
My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Colossians 2:2-3
 
                                                                                                      
Image of the Future
                                                                                      
Everything had changed. The voice and bright light along the Damascus Road had started it all. At first the light had struck him blind, but then the scales were peeled from his eyes, and light began to shine in the darkness. Paul discovered his purpose in life and along with it was an image of the impact his life might have on the world—a world one day might be encouraged in heart and united in love.
The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren’s popular book, was not in the library. God had another means to reveal Paul’s mission to him. Paul described it to Timothy this way. “I was appointed a herald and an apostle … and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.” (1Timothy 2:7)  But Paul also had an image of the future resulting from it. Paul pictured a world filled with the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom of Christ Jesus and the treasures hidden in Him. His job was to teach it.
Paul had always had a mission to serve God, but it took many years for him to get it right. As a champion of the Law, he worked to destroy the rising movement that Jesus was the long awaited Christ. He was committed to his cause albeit off course. Then the unexpected events along the Damascus Road changed everything. A new purpose was born with an image stamped in his mind of a world encouraged in heart and united in love. It was a picture that would energize the rest of his life and dictate his every action.
God places us all in this world to serve his purpose. Like Paul, much of our time is in pursuit of the wrong mission. And we all have an image of how our legacy might shape the world around us. But like Paul, sometimes the legacy in our mind does not align with God’s purpose for our lives. But He offers a chance to get it right.
God blesses each of us with gifts and talents. He equips us to use them with the experiences life offers. He provides opportunities to fulfill our purpose with the doors that He opens. And He paints an image in our minds that energizes our lives and dictates our actions to serve his great plan—that all may know his son, Jesus the Christ.
 
“You are the light of the world,”
Richard Ì
 

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