What Do You Want To Do With Your Life?

4.16.23 1 Peter 1:3–9 (EHV)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 into an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 5 Through faith you are being protected by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time. 6 Because of this you rejoice very much, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various kinds of trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—which is more valuable than gold, which passes away even though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him now, yet by believing in him, you are filled with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

The disciples had some lofty goals early in their ministry. They all wanted to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, to sit on the right and left hand of Jesus. As much as Jesus had to rebuke them, He never rebuked them for the GOAL, per se. At least they were thinking about the kingdom of heaven as their goal.

What Do You Want to Do With Your Life?

Are you one to set goals in life? Do you have a set amount of money that you want to have saved up by the time you turn 65? Do you want to retire at 65? Have you thought about how many children you want, what you’d do with your grandchildren, where you want to travel this summer, or in your life? What are your goals?

I can recall years ago how a financial advisor told me I could be a millionaire when I retired if I invested right. I started out investing pretty well, but then that target changed. God had other blessings for me through the years which included a wife, five children, two dogs and a cat. They are much better than a million dollars. (And even if I had a million dollars, in today’s economy it wouldn’t get too far the way things are going.)

So anyway, my point is, you set your goals, you have your ideals, but you don’t always get there. Maybe you wanted to be regular in worship and know your Bible well, but that hasn’t been happening. Maybe you never get married or you don’t have children. Maybe you don’t end up in a line of work that satisfies you. Maybe you have health problems. You seldom end up where you thought you’d be. Now your present and your future are nothing like you’d thought they would be, and you have no hope of getting there either.

So what do you do? You get depressed. You see where the world and our society is heading and where you are and you say, “It is what it is. I’ll keep my head low and survive. That’s about it.” Or maybe you resign yourself to a life of missed opportunities and just say, “I blew it. No use in trying any more.”

When you listen to Peter’s opening words of his epistle, you don’t hear any type of that mind set. You find words of thankfulness, joy, and hope. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 into an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. God decided to give you a new birth. That’s what Easter is about, new life and a new birth.

Think about that term “new birth.” When you’re newly born it means that your entire life is ahead of you. This is how Peter told us we could live, as if we were newly born. That life comes through the Holy Spirit, who brings you into a relationship with Jesus, and Jesus brings with Him all of God’s love and mercy and forgiveness.

Think of the old classic movie called the Sound of Music. A naval officer is trying to raise his children as if they were infantry soldiers after the death of his wife. He blows his whistle at them and orders them around with strict rules. Nonetheless, the children weren’t easy to deal with. Any nannies that had come in were bullied off in no time at all. It was a miserable place to live, until Maria was sent there to try and help shape things up. At first, the children tried their hardest to chase her off, but Maria was undeterred. She brought a cheer with her that livened up the household and brought new life and new music there. She changed the entire complexion of the household with her music and cheery disposition.