Book 2 of Musings I Have Finished the Work

How utterly marvelous to leave this earth and be able to say to God, "I have finished the work you gave me to do. Here it is, all wrapped up as a package, tied with a bow."

I have been around Christian people for a long time, over fifty years.

There is one thing I have noticed: most of the believers do not have a sense of what they are supposed to be doing. Even pastors sometimes.

Notice the attitude of the Apostle Paul:

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:6-8)

"The time has come for my departure. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

"The time has come for my departure"!

Do you get a sense from the above passage that the Apostle Paul had a specific responsibility and a prescribed number of days in which to accomplish it?

In another place Paul spoke of striving to grasp that for which he had been grasped by the Lord.

I think the reaction of many believers would be, "But that was the Apostle Paul. He was special. That doesn't apply to a common person like myself."

So we are back at the old "priest and people" thing. I wonder when the concept that some people are specially holy and are to act as priests to the rest of the believers will ever die out. This idea really hinders the development of the members of the Body of Christ.

Yes, the Apostle Paul had a great commission from the Lord Jesus. But how about Ananias who prayed that Saul of Tarsus might regain his sight and find out what was happening? Was Paul more important, or more highly favored of Christ, than was true of Ananias?

I don't believe God looks at us like that.

Paul gave us the illustration of the human body when describing the Church. Paul said that the Spirit places gifts in the Body of Christ just as He determines.

Now, think about your own body. Consider how the members work together.

We would regard our brain as more important than our toe. But suppose we developed cancer in our toe. What does the brain do then? Does it insist it is superior to the toe?

Again, what if the toe decides it is not important and refuses to function. It ceases working, the circulation stops, and gangrene sets in. How does the important brain regard this?

Numerous Christian believers live in the delusion that there really is nothing significant they are to do in the Kingdom. They are waiting to die and go to Heaven. They might have some duty they perform in the local church, and it is pleasing to God when they perform this assigned task faithfully and diligently. But they have no sense of destiny, no idea of why they are here or what they are to be doing.

However, I am not speaking of living our ordinary life in America and helping out in the local assembly from time to time. I am referring to presenting our body a living sacrifice that we might find out why we are living on the earth in the present hour.

Honestly, from what I hear I think both the ministers and the people are under the impression that God is sorrowful because so many people are going to Hell and is wondering why we don't do something about it.

The truth is, God knows exactly what He wants done in every instance. He will get His work done, one way or another. The issue is how we as an individual will fare in the grand plan of the universe. We will receive a reward if we do God's work. We will be punished if we live to ourselves.

Some of the harshest words spoken by the Lord were directed toward the servant who did not use his talent. He was punished very severely for doing nothing other than doing nothing.

God knew in advance every person ever born. God assigned to that individual a limited number of days on the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalms 139:16)

Furthermore, God placed you on the earth for a reason, particularly if you have been called to be a saint, a worshiper of Christ, a member of the Body of Christ. You have to keep before God at all times to find out what it is you are supposed to do each day. If you do not, you will be punished severely when the Lord returns.

Grace, mercy, imputed righteousness, or any of the other excuses we have for not living for God like we are supposed to certainly did not help the man who buried his talent!

If you don't think you are an important member of the Body of Christ; if you do not believe God has a specific plan for your life; why don't you ask Him right now? Go to God in prayer. Come boldly before the Throne of Grace. Lay your life before Him. Forget the past. Ask God what He would have you do.

Christian families in America are occupied with their health, their well-being, their jobs, their families, their income. These are areas in which we all ought to be diligent. However, all of these are the blessing of God on us. They are not the reason He put us on the earth. We are not here so we can breathe, eat, sleep, play, reproduce, and work. If that is all our life consists of we might just as well be a horse.

Let us think of a soldier in the army. The government will help him with his health, his well-being, his family, his income, possibly train him for a job he can work at when he gets out of the service. But this is not why he is in the army. He is in the army to go where the government tells him to go, even if it is into grave danger. As a soldier, his highest priority is to defend his country against the enemy.

As I said, it appears to me that most Christians have no sense of a definite purpose for their life. Sometimes when they grow old they are so selfish and self-centered they pose great problems for their children who are trying to take care of them and satisfy their whims. I am speaking of older Christians!

Compare the Christian senior citizen in America today with the Apostle Paul. The senior citizens main concern is if the mail is coming on time, or what he or she will eat for dinner.

We have lived as an animal and shall die as an animal, concerned only with eating, drinking, and playing. We will not be able, as was the godly Jacob, to bless our children and prophesy over them when it comes time for us to die.

Once we may have been as a beautiful flower. But because we have not pursued Christ during our lifetime we will wither and die when our time comes instead of mounting up in the spirit realm as a life-giving spirit.

For those who have ears to hear: such an animal existence is not pleasing to the Lord. He has commanded you through the Apostle Paul to present your body to God as a sacrifice that you might prove God's will for your life.

If you spend your days seeking God you will be a valuable servant in the Kingdom of God. You may have a supporting role while others are more in the spotlight. But as in the case of the toe, the Body of Christ depends on you in order that it may perform the work of the Kingdom.

God does not reward us on the basis of how spectacular our service has been but on our faithfulness. God is not impressed with grand religious actions, only with faithfulness.

So please understand that your days on earth were numbered at the time of the creation. God knows exactly where you are to be placed in His Kingdom.

If you perform your God-given assignment, God will give you a larger area of responsibility when Jesus returns.

But if you live out your life as an average American churchgoer, not having any idea of why you are here or what you are supposed to do, then be assured that when Jesus comes, all that has been given to you will be removed and given to another. You yourself will be placed in the outer darkness, there to have fellowship with the selfish, spiritually lazy believers who spent their days in the things of the flesh without regard for the needs of Christ and His Kingdom, including the needs of the multitudes who never have heard the Gospel.

I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. (John 17:4)