People ask a very important question. What am I here for? What is my purpose for living? Some will say I want to make something out of my life. But what do you want to make out of your life? Some may say they want to make a lot of money so I can live a comfortable life. What do you want to do with your life? The Negro College fund had a slogan which said, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste”. But a life is a more terrible thing to waste. I saw a study yesterday that said more people in their 40’s and over are going back to college. They may still be searching to make something out of their lives. I suppose if we asked each one here to write down what you want to do with your life we would get many different answers.
But if there ever was a man who knew what to do with his life it was Jesus Christ. He knew what his purpose in life was without a doubt. But there was a difference between what Jesus perceived his purpose was and what others thought it was. In the verses just before our text Peter had made a remarkable profession of Christ. In response to the question as to who Jesus was, Peter said that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus commended Peter for giving the correct answer. But the more important question was the purpose of the Messiah. What was he to do and to be? Starting in verse 21 of our text, Jesus explained what the Messiah had to do with his life. He had to go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders, scribes, and chief priests. He would killed and be raised on the third day. We know this was necessary to save the world from sin. But Peter no doubt speaking for himself and the other disciples said, “This can’t happen to you. You are the Messiah. You are to bring hope, freedom, and liberation for our nation. This can’t be.”
But Jesus said a strange thing to Peter. He called Peter a devil. As far as Peter was concerned, Satan was using Peter as a temptation for Jesus to forsake his purpose for living. Jesus knew what he had to do. He knew what he had to suffer. He was determined to fulfill the purpose for his life. But the devil was using Peter to persuade him to take the easy way out. The devil was using Peter to focus on human desires and designs for Jesus rather than God’s plan for his life. Peter was looking at things from a human perspective rather than from a divine perspective.
Then Jesus began to tell them that they had a purpose for their lives too. You have a choice to make. You can follow me or you can go your own way in deciding what to do with your lives. But, he says, if you want to follow me you are going to have to follow my purpose for your lives. I am the example. I am the model. I am the way. Follow me and you will have a purpose for your life. What did Jesus say to the disciples as to what they were to do with their lives? But even though we live in a different time and era, what Jesus told the disciples can be applied to us today. There are a lot of things in the Bible not written directly to us, but are written for us. What Jesus said to the disciples also pertains to us today.
What did he say that the disciples and we are to do with our lives? We know he included us because he says whosoever desires to follow me must follow this purpose for your life. So what do we do our lives? First of all, we are to discipline our lives. Jesus said you are to deny yourselves, take up your cross and follow me. To deny your self means to discipline yourself. By nature we desire to please and satisfy ourselves. We are born that way. Sin means the desire to satisfy ourselves rather than to please God. That was the original sin of Adam and Eve. They wanted to have their own way rather than obeying God. We can see this in a newborn baby. A newborn baby doesn’t care about anything but getting its needs met. He wants to eat. He wants to be changed. He wants to be held. Everything is centered on his needs. This is natural. A newborn infant is born that way.
When I served a church up in the rural area of Western Penna, we were having a Bible class. During one lesson the topic of original sin came up. A young man who recently had become a father could not accept the fact that his cute, adorable baby girl was born in sin. That couldn’t be. She had done nothing to sin. But sins are a focus on self rather than on God. A baby has to focus on itself. That is natural. We are born that way. But if we want to follow Christ and his purpose for our lives, we must leave our baby and selfish desires and focus on God’s purpose for us. But it takes a lot of discipline to deny ourselves that way. It doesn’t come easy.
Discipline means to get our priorities straight. We are to renounce anything which is in competition with the love and service of God. God must come first. Don’t let the things of the world compete with the things of God. Education is fine, but don’t let it compete with the salvation of your soul. Money is fine, but don’t let it compete with treasures in heaven. Fame is fine, but don’t let it compete with who you are in Christ Jesus. Houses are fine, but don’t let it compete with your home in glory. So discipline yourself that God comes first in all of your life. Sometimes it is like walking a tight rope. But if you have to tip the scales one way or the other, let the balance fall on the spiritual rather than the secular.
But the sad thing is that many of us in church are turned in on self. A call to discipline doesn’t get many folks in church. People don’t like discipline. They want to do what they want to do when they want to do it and how they want to do it. I don’t want to judge anyone, but I’m just saying, I’m just wondering about all those thousands of people in these so called mega churches. I wonder what percentage of them is about discipline or about getting their needs met. You can fill a church if you promise to give people what they want. Most people come to church to get their needs met. Most often they come to church seeking to get something from God, rather than to do something for God. They are looking for prosperity, health, peace, contentment, satisfaction, confidence, and so many other things. Those things are important, and many of those things can be supplied by God.
But Jesus wants us to love and serve him first of all. He wants us to seek him for his name’s sake rather than for what we can get out of him. Discipline takes time, sacrifice, study, prayer, meditation, reflection. Discipline is costly. That’s why so few people are into discipline. They don’t want to pay the price of disciplining and denying themselves. They want the benefits of Christianity without the costs of discipleship and discipline. Many times they come to church to feel good, but they don’t want to do anything good for Christ. Don’t put anything above Christ, not even the church. Put God first in your life. Live a life of discipline by denying self and serving Jesus. We should discipline our lives.
The second thing we should do is to save our lives. How do we save our lives? We save our lives by losing our lives. (verse 25) In verse 24 Jesus told his disciples to take up their crosses and follow him. Jesus bore his cross to death. Most of the disciples gave up their lives for the sake of Christ. Tradition says Peter was crucified upside down. Most of the other disciples died for their faith. By losing their physical lives, they saved their eternal lives in heaven. Many Christians today are dying physically for the cause of Christ. But for us the emphasis is on saving our spiritual lives. We must lose our lives for the sake of Christ. We must surrender our lives to Christ in order to save them We often hear the term, give yourself to Christ. We are to dedicate our lives to Christ. We lose our lives so that Christ may live his life in us. The Apostle Paul talked about dying daily to self spiritually. Real life can only be found in Christ. Jesus Christ can save our lives, not only for eternity, but for now also. We give our lives to Christ so he can save them.
Some people give everything to God but themselves. They want to present to God the good things they have done. They have lived a good life. They have been good family members. They have helped so many people. Some have fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the sick and done many other good and commendable things. They think that surely all the good things I have done can save my life. They bring all their good works to God and expect him to save their lives for their deeds. But you can’t save your life by doing good things. Only life in Christ can save your life. Only the Christ life in you can save your life.
To receive the life that God has for you means to get rid of all the baggage of your good works and present yourself to God just as you are. God says, “Your good works are fine. But I want you to give your life to me. I want you to surrender your life to me so I can save it.” Some of us may remember that old recruitment poster used by the armed forces. Uncle Sam was on the poster pointing his finger at us and saying, “I want you.” Jesus Christ is saying, “I want you. All the things you have done are fine. But I want you. I want you to give your life to me so I can use you for my purpose. I want you to give yourself to me so I can give you my life. Seek me and all those other things you want can be added to you. Give me yourself first, and then you can bring all that other stuff as a sign of your love for me. Let me give you a life that is really worth living. Don’t come to me with the baggage of your good deeds and self-righteousness. Come just as you are.”
Only Jesus Christ has the life you are seeking. Only Jesus Christ can give you a real purpose for your life. Come to Jesus with nothing in your hands. Come just as you are with no baggage in your hand. As the hymn Rock of Ages says:" Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling. Naked, come to thee for dress. Helpless look to Thee for grace. Foul I to the fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die." Only Jesus can save your life. Life is in Jesus. Save your life in him. Verse 26 What to do with your life?
Finally, invest your life. Some people invest their lives in themselves. They invest their lives in things for themselves. They invest themselves in attaining houses, money, popularity, fame, and in all the things they think will satisfy. They invest their time in getting things which will pass away forever. But we need to invest our lives in things which shall last forever. Even if you gained the whole world and everything you wanted, but lost your life, it would be a poor investment. Don’t trade the eternal for the temporary. You could be the richest person in the world, but if your soul is lost you have lost everything. You are lost forever. How foolish it is to invest your life in things of this world and lose your eternal life forever.
A story is told of a man who wanted to be buried in a Cadillac. He got his wish but what good did it do him if his soul was lost. Don’t make a foolish investment. Do something that will last after you are gone. Remember that only what you do for Christ will last. The song says, " You may build great cathedrals large or small. You can build sky scrapers grand and tall. You may conquer all the failures of the past. But only what you do for Christ will last."
Invest your life in service to God and others. You can discipline your life. You can save your life. But unless you invest your life in something beyond yourself, it means nothing. Service to God involves loving, thoughtful active promotion of the good of others and the causes of God in our world. We give our lives to God so he can use us. Jesus is out example. He came not to be served, but to serve. Jesus served God and others. He came to save us from sin. But he was also mindful of the physical needs of people. He healed the sick and fed the hungry. Jesus is our model.
I don’t know if you ever watched the reality show called hoarders. It tells stories of people who hoard everything in their houses. A hoarder is a person that feels the need to find, collect, pack and keep everything because they do not know how to throw things away. Some people are spiritual hoarders. They don’t know how to give themselves away. But God wants us to give ourselves away. God doesn’t want us to be hoarders. He wants us to give ourselves away in service to him and others. If God has blessed us, he wants us to share his blessing with others.
Years ago hermits or ascetics would shut themselves off from the world to avoid the temptations of the world. They desired to get away from it all so they could worship, meditate, and focus all the attention on God. They didn’t want anybody or anything to divert their time with God. But God doesn’t want us to hide or hoard even our times of communion with him. Whatever God allows us to experience he wants us to pass it on to somebody else. Invest your life in somebody else. Whatever we have God wants us to share it with others.
Even if God blesses you with a sweet hour of communion with him, he wants us to pass it on to somebody else. Don’t hoard God’s blessings. Whatever he gives you, invest it in service to God and to others. Jesus Christ gave all for us. He wants us to invest ourselves in service to him and to others. It’s good to leave something that will last to other generations.
Revelation talks about those who die in the Lord whose works follow them. It’s good to invest in something that lasts after you are gone. The disciples like Peter, James and John invested their lives and their works are following them. Church fathers like Augustine, Ignatius, and Jerome invested their lives in laying the theological foundations of the faith and their works are following them. Hymn writers like Isaac Watts, John Newton, and Charles Wesley invested their lives in composing hymns and their works are following them. Church founders like John Knox, Martin Luther, and Roger Williams invested their lives in starting great denominations and their works are following them. Civil rights leaders like A Phillip Randolph, Martin Luther King Jr, and Roy Wilkins invested their lives by paving the way for justice and their works are following them.
If you invest your life in service to God and others, your works might not follow you after you are dead, but your living shall not be in vain. Don’t be a hoarder. Do something for God and others today. What God has given you pass it on to somebody. Don’t be a hoarder. Once you have experienced God’s love pass it on.
Don’t be a hoarder. When you enjoy the peace that passes understanding, pass it on. Don’t be a hoarder. If you know something about God’s amazing grace, pass it on to somebody else. Don’t be a hoarder. If you have the joy of the Lord in your heart, pass it on to somebody else. Don’t be a hoarder. If you have faith that can move mountains, pass it on to somebody else. Whatever you have, pass it on to others.
Invest your life in service to God and others. Pass it on. Pass on mercy. Pass on truth. Pass on understanding. Pass on goodness. Pass on patience. Pass on kindness. Pass on generosity. Pass on gentleness. Pass on purity. Pass on praise. Pass it on. Invest it in somebody else. Pass on what you have to somebody else.
I am 90 years old. I don’t get a chance to preach much anymore. But every now and then some church like yours calls on me to preach the word and share my knowledge with them. Don’t be a hoarder. Invest your life in service to God and others. That’s why I decided to visit a nursing home for seniors two days a month to share the gospel with somebody who needs a word of cheer. Invest your life in service to God and others. When you serve others you serve God too.
Don’t be a hoarder. Reach out and touch somebody’s hand. Make this a better world if you can. Reach out and touch a soul that is hungry. Reach out and touch a life torn and dirty. Reach out and touch a friend who is weary. Reach out and touch someone who needs you. Make a difference in somebody’s life if you can. If you can help somebody as you travel along, if you can help somebody in word or song, and if you can help somebody from doing wrong, then your living shall not be in vain. Don’t be a hoarder. Share what you have with somebody else. Invest your life. Reach out and shed God’s light in the darkness. Then your living will not be in vain.
What to do with your life? Discipline your life. Save your life. Invest your life. That's what to do with your life!
