Living For a Cause
By Pastor Jim May
Someone once asked me if I knew all of the answers to life’s many questions? In a joking manner I answered, “Sure I know the answers. The problem I have is matching the right answer to the right question.” But as I think about it, I don’t know all the answers, but I know where to get them. I serve a Lord that knows the answer to every question before it arises. I serve a Living God who will create an answer to my problems and who will lead me into the paths where I can find that which I seek.
My problem is that I don’t always know what I’m really looking for.
Have you ever found yourself digging for something and right in the middle of your searching you stop and realize that you forgot what you are looking for?
I believe that there are a lot of people who have forgotten what they are really looking for. We are ever searching for something. We search for true love, but like the old country western song says, we are “looking for love in all the wrong places and in too many faces”. We search for peace, but this world has no real peace to offer. We search for happiness but it seems to elude us at every turn. We look for satisfaction but we find that nothing in this world really satisfies. We look for something that will give meaning to life but then go to bed every night wondering why we are here on this earth? Is there nothing more to life than just the daily grind of waking up, going to work, coming home, watching TV, and then sleeping?
What we have to realize is that life has no real meaning until we are committed to a cause, and that cause must be worth the price of our commitment.
What cause do you have this morning? Is there something larger than life; more important to you life itself? Is there something inside of you that is driving you onward, forcing you to do things that are uncomfortable, and somehow changing you into a better person?
Some people are committed to the cause of freedom and liberty. Those are noteworthy causes and they give meaning to life. The real test is this. Do freedom and liberty pay off in the end, and if so what dividends do they pay?
True enough, most of our national heroes are men and women who have been committed to the cause of freedom and liberty.
I hope that our teachers and schools never let us forget those who have paid the price that we can be free today. I am reminded of Patrick Henry during the American Revolution.
On March 23, 1775, as he stood before the Virginia Legislature, he proclaimed his belief in the cause of freedom, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
The cause of freedom pays dividends in the fact that we are a free nation today. If someone hadn’t taken that cause and paid the price we might all be speaking German or Japanese today. God intends for all men to be free and equal. Our nation is founded upon those principles and the cause of freedom and equality will give your life meaning.
Some people make their family, children and spouse, their reason for living. This too can be a great cause. Most of us would gladly spend our lives providing for and caring for those we love.
Some years ago I did something for one of my children that wasn’t the easiest thing for me to do. After it was finished someone said to me, “I wouldn’t do that for my kid.” I answered, “Well, I wouldn’t do for your kids either, but I will do it for mine.” It’s easy to pass judgment on someone else when you aren’t committed to their cause.
Is the price of commitment to your family worth the dividends in the end? For many of us that answer would be “yes”. Our children become successful, law abiding citizens. In spite of all the troubles, the failures and the hard times, they will make us proud. But that isn’t always the case is it? Sometimes all of the love, care and investment we make into our families just doesn’t seem to pay off. None of us have a promise that our kids will be model citizens. Sometimes they just decide to be outlaws and heart-breakers.
Someone once said, “When your kids are small they step on your toes, but when they grow older they step on your heart”.
While committing yourself to your family can be a great cause and give your life meaning, it doesn’t always pay off with the right dividends in the end.
What other causes could we name that people commit themselves to that they hope will give life meaning?
What about the cause of making money or owning property? Who can deny that there are a lot of people, especially in our society, who commit their whole lives to gaining worldly possessions? Can this cause give life meaning? Of course it can. Some people believe that the most important thing in life is to be one with the most things. Some people have the philosophy that says, “He who has the most toys in the end, wins!”
I’m convinced, according to God’s Word, that this philosophy isn’t worth the investment and commitment that it takes to make it happen.
Jesus has these words to say to anyone who would be His disciple in Mark 8:34-37, "…Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
In the 16th chapter of the Book of Luke we see the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. The rich man had made possessions and wealth his cause, but in the end, he was rewarded with spending eternity in hell’s flames.
The cause of earthly wealth is not worth the price of commitment. It’s good to enjoy the good things in life, but don’t let the pursuit of those “good things” deceive you and cause you to lose out in the end.
Pursuing the good life can leave you empty and lonely. How many have lost their family because the job got in the way and demanded all of their time? Is the paycheck worth losing your family, losing your peace or losing your soul? I think not.
I’ve never once heard a dying man say, “If only I had spent more time on the job.” All too late, we can discover the emptiness of committing to a cause that isn’t worth the price.
Some people make entertainment, or satisfying the desires of the flesh, their cause in life. I know some folks like this. Their entire lives are spent going from one vacation spot to another. Their lives are spent in enjoying their leisure time and trying to forget any commitment to anything else other than having a good time.
I can tell you of some who forsake family, friends, church, and everything else, and move to a new town just so that they can enjoy being a “free spirit”. Just having little or no responsibilities other than to themselves appears to give their life meaning.
But does this commitment to self indulgence pay off in the end? Is having fun and being a free spirit worth losing any relationship with your children? Can life have any real meaning at all when you aren’t committed to anything but yourself? I believe that if life is to have meaning, then you must be committed to something larger than self.
You can see these people everywhere. They are the ones who forsake serving the Lord and being faithful to the House of God while enjoying the good life every weekend. They are the ones who try to find happiness at the bottom of a bottle. They are the ones who seek peace by popping a pill or snorting cocaine. All they are about is feeling good at all costs.
What dividends do these folks receive for a lifetime of commitment to self? They end up with lonely, wasted lives that have very little meaning at all. When you see a funeral procession going down the road with very few cars in the lineup, you can rest assured that this was a person whose life carried very little meaning. They spent their lives on self and invested very little into the lives of others or searching for any real meaning in life.
What about you this morning? What cause are you spending your life for?
I’m here to tell you that there is a great cause that you can commit to, and it pays off with the greatest dividends of all. That cause is the Cause of Christ. Jesus is looking for those who will surrender their will to His. God is looking for someone who will say, “Here am I, send me.” He is looking for a man or woman who will say, “Mold me, make me, use me, fill me with your presence, and make me what you want me to be.”
The greatest cause you can have in life is to serve the Lord. It pays off in dividends of an eternal reward. It’s more than worth the price. It’s a cause larger than life itself, and when you come to the end of your life, you will be able to look back and say, “I’ve lived for a purpose, and I’ve made a difference.” It will be worth it all.
Serving the Lord won’t always be easy. In fact you will have to do battle against all the forces of hell, but is it worth the price. Will it be worth living a life of holiness? Will it be worth the price of doing spiritual warfare to drive back the powers of darkness and see the souls of men saved? Will it be worth studying the Word of God and committing your time and energy to serving the Lord?
When Israel faced the Philistines on the hills of Judea and Goliath stood on the opposite hillside taunting the Israelites as they cowered in fear, one man, a young teenage by the name of David, answered the call. He wasn’t much to look at, but he had the power of God on his side. Everyone said that he wouldn’t win, that he couldn’t win. Everyone laughed at his commitment to fight Goliath. But David asked the question in 1 Samuel 17:29, "… What have I now done? Is there not a cause?"
David had a cause greater than life. It was a cause of serving the God of Israel and showing the world that God was Almighty and a Living God. It was a cause of worship, of service and of dedication to being the servant of the Most High God and he wasn’t about to let some heathen giant make his God look like a fool.
If your cause is right, it will be worth the commitment, and there is no greater cause than serving the Lord Jesus Christ. You will look back on your life and be able to rejoice knowing that your life made a difference and really counted for something great.
Will you give your heart and life to Jesus today? Will you let Him be the Lord of your life? Let God give you a life worth living.
