Filling Up the Train to Heaven
Bible Reading: 2 Peter 3:9-16
The Lord . . . does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent. 2 Peter 3:9
When Megan hears that God wants her to have a healthy self-image, she wants to wiggle away. “I’m really not interested in hearing how special God thinks I am,” she protests. “I don’t want to see myself that way. People who focus on themselves end up totally selfish. I can’t see how thinking about myself helps me glorify God and show the world how great he is.”
Talk about it: Is Megan right or wrong? Does knowing that God thinks you’re special make you a spoiled brat?
Pssst. I have to disagree with Megan. God wants you to see yourself like he sees you—lovable, valuable, and capable.
But why would God want you to think that way? Is it just to make you feel warm and fuzzy? Could he possibly want to feed your selfish side? No and double no. God wants you totally convinced that you are lovable, valuable, and capable because he has a gargantuan reason for fixing your faulty self-image. He has work for you to do.
You might not realize that you’re God’s gift to the world. But you didn’t really think God just put us here to take up space, did you? He could have zoomed us straight to heaven the moment we trusted Christ. The fact that he chooses to have us hang around on earth even after we belong to him proves that we have a real reason for being here.
So what’s our purpose in life? I like how one young guy answered that question. “My purpose in life,” he said with fire in his eyes, “is to go to heaven and take as many people with me as I can.”
I hope you have the same burning desire to be part of God’s big plan to rescue the world. When you are sure that God created everyone in his image and sent Christ to die for everyone, you want to share his love with others. And when you realize that you too are lovable, valuable, and capable, suddenly you give your time to help with God’s work from a heart jammed with the love of Jesus.
You may say, “If the whole reason I’m here is to lead people to Jesus, then I’m a rotten failure. Hardly anyone—no, make that no one—has come to Christ because of me.” That might be true. But it’s also likely to be true that as you keep growing, a bunch of people are on their way to trusting Christ because of who you are in Christ and how you love them!
TALK: Say it in your own words: How does having a healthy self-image not make you a selfish person? How does it help you love others?
PRAY: Lord, we want to reach out and tell the world of your love.
ACT: Since God has given you this important job, what bold step can you take today to talk about Jesus?