Live From Your Purpose and Live Intentionally

Just because I know my gist, my purpose, doesn’t mean I always live from it. I failed big time recently, and hopefully, learned a hard lesson.

To review:

Your gist is your why, your substance, your God-made-you-for-this-very-thing purpose. When you live from your why, you live intentionally.

For some time now, I’ve known my gist:

1. love God
2. love others
3. invite people in

But underlying all three is this: tell people the Good News. If you’re a Christ-follower, that’s your underlying Big Thing as well. Here’s how I know:

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. II Corinthians 5:18 NIV

All this is from God.

We get God and we get a job: the ministry of reconciliation. That doesn’t only mean I don’t pick a fight w/ my Man-in-Plaid or gossip with the neighbors. I’m here to share the Good News and live the Good News.

Two weeks ago my friend’s husband passed away. He’d been ill a couple years, weaker each time they came over. Because, yes, I was doing Gist #1, 2 and 3 – I loved God, I loved on these new friends, and I invited them in, more than once.

But I failed. In the most important thing. I never asked Joe:

Do you know Jesus died for your sins?

Do you have peace about dying?

Do you know God loves you?

Would you like to pray now and ask Him to forgive you and give you your promised place in heaven?

I thought about doing it. I prayed about doing it  – at least I prayed that SOMEONE would do it. I even asked a friend of the male variety to please go over and talk to Joe about eternity. But I didn’t go. When I found out he’d already passed, I cried. It was too late. At least it was too late for me to be a part of that ministry of reconciliation for Joe.

I know. I know God’s in charge. I know that hopefully, because of God’s big merciful and welcoming heart, that Joe could be there by Jesus right now and talking about golf and his kids and getting to know my folks. I hope and trust that he is. I won’t know for awhile yet.

What did I learn from my gist-fail?

• When God says, “Go tell this person the Good News,” I better do it – even with fear and trembling.
• Take someone with me, if necessary.
• Don’t wait. We don’t know how long we have.

We don’t save people, God does. Of this I am confident.

And God forgives me, when I fail Him. Of this I am sure.

But I don’t want to do that again.

I failed at my gist and I learned a hard lesson. Jesus never failed to live out His gist: He went to the cross for my failures and for Joe. Good news for me: forgiveness for any fail–and for any Joe you know.