We are not here for ourselves, but for the work of Christ and the good of others. What exactly our individual service is will differ from that of others. But we are called to serve diligently and faithfully. As Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 4:1-2: “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.” Simply being faithful in our work, our calling, our mission, is enough.

To start things off on a lighter note, in the hit 1980 film The Blues Brothers, Jake and Elwood tell folks, “We’re on a mission from God.” For the committed Christian, this notion should ring true. We ARE here on a mission from and for God. We may not always know just what that is, but we are in fact here for a purpose.

We were not saved just so that one day we can go to be with our Lord and enjoy him forever. Yes, that is our blessed hope, but until that time, we all have a job to do. We are all here on assignment. We each have a heavenly calling which is unique to us, and which no one else can do in the same way and in the same sense.

Sure, often the believer is busy simply doing the stuff of life: working at a job, raising a family, and so on. And those are all high and holy callings indeed. But we must always keep the bigger picture in mind. Even if you do work at a regular job some 40 or 50 or 60 hours a week, we are a part of something much bigger and grander than ourselves.

Sometimes discovering what the purpose of God for us is can be part of a journey, and it can take some time. Perhaps some will not be able to fully articulate or discern just what their mission and calling is, but by the end of their life – and certainly in the next – they will be able to look back and see just what God had them on planet earth for.

I have been a Christian for a long time now, and have not always known exactly what it is God has wanted me to do. And we all need to remember that of course in God’s eyes who we ARE is often more important than what we DO. The latter flows out of the former.

All this has been going through my mind again of late, having just read a key text on this in my daily reading. I refer to the words of the Apostle Paul concerning King David as found in Acts 13:36: “he had served the purpose of God in his own generation”.

The question we all should be asking ourselves is this: Are we doing the same? Are we serving the purpose of God in our generation, whatever that might be? Are we aware of a calling on our lives that comes from above? Are we able to say, “I’m on a mission from God”?

Again, it need not be some grandiose thing. Most of us will never be a megachurch pastor, or an international Bible teacher, or a New Testament scholar at a Christian divinity school, or an overseas missionary, or a best-selling Christian author.

Most of us will just do what we have been allotted to do in life: being a good parent, a committed spouse, a hard-working employee, or a respectful son or daughter. But in all these “little” things we are to be found faithful. We are to do everything for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). We are to fulfil the purpose of God in our lifetime – in our generation.

We have been saved to serve, in other words. We are not here for ourselves, but for the work of Christ and the good of others. What exactly our individual service is will differ from that of others. But we are called to serve diligently and faithfully. As Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 4:1-2: “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”

Simply being faithful in our work, our calling, our mission, is enough. We can leave the results up to God. But we want to live such a life that when we die, those around us can say, ‘He served the purpose of God in his own generation.’ Is that your aim? Is that your desire?

Let me finish by quoting one great and faithful servant of God. The English preacher Charles Spurgeon delivered a sermon on “Serving Our Generation” on October 19, 1890. It was based on Acts 13;36. And he had it read at his funeral when he died two years later. This is part of what he had to say:

First, then, WHAT IS IT TO SERVE OUR OWN GENERATION? This is a question which ought to interest us all very deeply. Though our citizenship is in heaven, yet, as we live on earth, we should seek to serve our generation while we pass as pilgrims to the better country. What, then, is it for a man to serve his own generation?

1. I note, first, that it is not to be a slave to it. It is not to drop into the habits, customs, and ideas of the generation in which we live. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not only for one generation, it is for all generations.

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