Latecomers and absentees (part 3): Missing the mark
At 33, Jesus had finished all things that God had told him to do. He was 33.
There is even a calendar structured according to the year of His birth. And He lived for 33 years on Earth.
Jesus even said: “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12)
Since Jesus has gone to the Father, we are supposed to do the same works He did and even greater.
Now, if you have been experiencing serious ‘hiccups’ in your God-given destiny (like it happened to me in the past), I am convinced that the passage of John 14:12 will certainly revolt you.
At the end of the book of John, the Apostle wrote: “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.” (John 14:25)
Though He was 33, by the time He returned to His father, the Bible says that all His acts would not be able to be contained. SinceJesus did above and beyond in hIs lifetime on Earth, I can only conclude that He acted at a speed I would call : ‘the speed of Jesus’.
Prior to 2013,for many years in my life, I had struggled to see a decent realization of God’s visions for my life within a decent and reasonable time. Because of a large amount of unbelief, it took me a while to fully pivot and to really obey God.
Based on personal experience and based on observations made upon the life of Jesus on Earth, I will list certain things that will slow down or totally hamper the realization of your God given destiny on Earth:
Sinful lifestyle:In Greek ‘the word ‘sin’ comes from the ‘amartia’ which means ‘missing the mark. Sin has the capacity to make anyone miss the mark or miss the ‘bullseye’ of their destiny.
Oh! I will burst some people’s bubbles: “very often, we tend to have a standard meaning of what sin is or what sin should be. As a result, many of us have classified only certain behaviors as sin while we tend to give a ‘pass’ to other behaviors.
When we talk about sin, we often make the mistake of thinking that it only refers to things such as theft, adultery, sexual immorality, theft or lying. Yes, of course those things fall within the category of sin but do you know that Adam never committed adultery in the Garden of Eden?
Due to the fact of classifying sins, we often make the mistake of not understanding what sin is in a clear sense.
Sin is a choice that goes against the will of God. The will of God is the standard or the ‘bullseye’ we must all aim for. Once we opt for alternatives other than the will of God, we commit sin.
Let me give you a few examples:
*Brother T, a 20 year old man, has been by God to embrace basketball as a career. Unfortunately, Brother T decides to work at a fast food restaurant instead. He doesn't even bother to train in basketball after work. Eventually, as the years advance, Brother T never becomes a basketball player. In this example, Brother T has committed a sin.
*Sister A has been told by God to send a specific amount of money to a specific orphanage. Sister A refuses and eventually decides not to send the money. Sister A committed a sin.
*In 1999, God told Brother X to enter politics in his country. Unfortunately, Brother X, in an epiphany of self-righteousness, decides to travel to Asia and work as a missionary till today. He has never entered politics. Brother X has committed a sin. (I will return to this example a bit later).
You see my friend, we tend to be quick in judging the adulterers, the thief, the liar, the drug addict…without looking at some of the marks we tend to miss.
Brother T may have chosen to work in a fast food restaurant but he will not have the impact he could have had if he had obeyed God and played as a Basketball player. Because of his choice, many kids will miss to see the inspiration he could have been for the Kingdom of God.
Sister A chose to keep her money. She did not commit any form of adultery but she kept the money she was supposed to give to the specific orphanage. Because she kept the money, the orphanage staff and the orphans will not benefit nor be impacted by her gifts. Do not underestimate generosity. I have seen cases where people were just ‘one meal away’ from death or from committing suicide. Generosity towards the weak is so important that Jesus dedicates a major part of Judgment Day on the subject in Matthew 25:31-46 and I wrote an entire piece that can be found on this link: Sheep and Goats.
Brother X refuses to enter politics and as a result, the children of darkness can have an opportunity to operate in an environment where he could have manifested the light of God. Brother X did what many Christians are doing: ‘trying to correct God by acting seemingly better than him’. Brother X chose to help in Asia with missionary (a call that God never gave him in the first place) because he thinks that he can do better things by being a missionary than living his call in politics. There are many people who are acting in the five fold ministry and yet God never called them to those offices. Unfortunately, some of them will be among the people that Jesus will deny in Matthew 7:21-23. There are people who are working full time ministries while God has called in other places.
The Apostle Paul wrote so well about the consequences of sin in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”
The wages of sin is death. In the beginning, the reward from sin may not be obvious but it will show in the long term. For years, I was working in jobs that took me away from my God-given calling. I was well paid in those jobs and in the early stages things seem to be doing fine. However, in the longer term I felt dead inside in spite of my salaries and prestiges associated with my job. No matter how beautiful sin may look, there is no life in sin.
Many people are simply feeling dead because of the sinful choices they made in their careers, their relationships, and in many other areas of their lives.
However, if they repent and change their ways, then things can turn around for the better.
In your journey towards achieving God’s destiny, If you are stuck like I was because of sin, then turn away towards the right path before the sin poisons your entire life to death.
Stay clear.