Like many of you, I’ve spent the last few days making some plans for 2015. I want to be a good steward of my life, so I try to set goals that will push me and help me pursue being a better man. So, I’ve got personal goals, family goals and goals for the ministry to which God has called me. When I remember that my identity is secure in Jesus’ gospel, I can set goals and go for it resting in His accomplishments rather than needing my own.
However, as those goals fill my journal, I need to be reminded of my primary goal for this and every year. This quote by Scotty Smith brings me back to the center.
“There is no commitment we will make as church planters of greater importance than living close to Jesus. For church planting can become an idol factory; a prostitution ring; a cruel taskmaster; a breeding ground for addictions…we need church planters who will love Jesus with abandon, and who cultivate a lifestyle of growing in His grace and knowledge. Until you know yourself to be slow of heart to believe the gospel, you will never cultivate a burning heart for the gospel. Churches planted with the DNA of the gospel will be led by those who live a life of gospel astonishment.”
So, my primary goal for 2015: living close to Jesus.
May it be, Lord. May it be…
