BakerBits

Do you ever have a church sermon that makes you think so hard your head hurts? Anyway, something I have frequently pondered is the search for meaning in my own life, and in the lives of other people. I have even heard Christians expressing dissatisfaction with their life directions and wondering what they are supposed to be doing at any given moment in their lives, and I have done this myself as a Christian.

Our sermon was on Matthew 22:23-30 where Jesus is asked how marriage will be after the resurrection. The conclusion is that the marriages that we have on earth will not be in heaven. The pastor also noted 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, where Paul commands those who are married to live as if they are not. So as a church we looked at the purpose of being on earth as a Christian. What are we supposed to be doing, anyway? Marriage is clearly not a key element.

The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

So there we go. Be you married or unmarried, you are supposed to be making disciples. God has given  us a job to do. Whether you do that with your children that you got as a result of being married (or however you got your children) or you are doing that  with other people in any way shape or form, you are doing what will bring God glory and you the satisfaction of having done good work.  In heaven, Kyle won’t be my husband. Todd, Peter, and Vivienne, won’t be my children. Granting that Todd, Peter, and Vivienne come to love and follow Christ, we will all be children of God, and our earthly physical relationships won’t have the same impact they do here.

So that all made my head hurt because I realized why I was on earth, and why I was a mother. God gave me these children to make them disciples of him. I really don’t have anything greater to aim for than helping other people love and follow Jesus. Nothing is really harder, but it has the awesome power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish it.

I remember being a sophomore in college, and seriously confused about how I was going to serve God. I was a disciple, now what? I went to a missions conference and didn’t feel like anything there gripped me and called me by the power of God, but I felt so ready. I really wondered why I hadn’t been called to go to Africa or Canada or even the slums of LA for long-term mission work. I didn’t even feel like finishing college was important, because I couldn’t even decide what I wanted to major in.

Short story, I discovered Kyle liked me, I liked him, and we got married. I guess at the time I didn’t see anything particularly mission-like in all that. But then we had children. And at first I was just trying to survive. However, now I have seen that my searching back in my sophomore year had yielded me a very solid answer indeed in a very roundabout way. Having children is not just something you do to occupy yourself for 20-30 years until they move out. It’s a long term commitment to raise your child in the fear of the Lord, to do all you can to love on them and tell them about Jesus, to pray every moment that they would come to love and follow Christ, to give them godly council for the troubles they will face, to help them acquire a set of life skills that will help them in their walk with God in this awful scary place called earth. And, the ultimate hope, that they will desire to make disciples of other people, and forward the wonderful love of God whatever they do.

That’s why I am not concerned if my children ever go to college, or get married or not, or move to Zimbabwe or California or orbit the moon. I just want them to love Jesus, and be His disciples. Same goes with other people I know and love. You don’t have to get married, you don’t have to have children, you don’t have to have a job, or be successful in whatever field, and it’s ok if you didn’t become the astronaut/fireman/overseas missionary you wanted to be when you were younger. God has you in a place right now and your job is to make disciples. He will equip you, all you gotta do is love, serve, and share. Invest in the lives of other people in ways that will matter in an eternal sense. God will place things like college, jobs, marriage,children, etc, in your life to help put you where he wants you to make disciples.

And now, as a mother, I am ready to heartily embrace my calling. I no longer am waiting until they are all in school so I can go back to college and make something of myself. I am not waiting for them to graduate and move out to make my life easier. Here I am now, and my hands are full with the good work that God has given me. I aim to make disciples of my children, and anyone else who God places in my path. Jesus is with me, I can do it.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
	Mat 28:20	teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”