Sermonette: May 25, 2020

What is the meaning and purpose of life? This is a question I would not have been able to answer a few years ago. At that point, my biggest worries were enjoying life and managing what other people thought of me. Going into college, I was so hung up on this question of identity that I took a class about it my first semester. Goals, Drives, and the Search for Identity. Interestingly enough, it was not this class that helped me figure it out.

About halfway through my freshman year, I began a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Through people’s guidance, reading the Bible and spending time in prayer, God taught me who I am, what my purpose is, and where I belong. I am his child, his ambassador. I exist to bring glory to God. To love and serve him and those around me.

But, sometimes I get too comfortable in this world. I am selfish with my time and get wrapped up in temporary things (like how I’m doing in school or deciding what new boots I should buy). In Colossians 3:1-4, Paul reminds us where our main focus should be.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Essentially, if we are followers of Jesus, we need to recognize that the world we live in, as wonderful and beautiful as it can be, isn’t where we belong. We are travelers, foreigners, on our way to a place of eternal fellowship with God. Knowing this should change our perspective of the time we have here. Instead of focusing on the temporary, we focus on what is permanent. Spending time with God and pointing others toward him is what that looks like.

So for me, this means getting off my phone, and into the Bible. It means talking to people about Jesus, instead of spending the day on the couch; inviting people into my life that I wouldn’t normally interact with. It means being involved in a church community. These are a few ways I can set my eyes on things above.

What does having an eternal perspective look like for you?