Life consists of one breath, one purpose and one step at a time. We would join with many others in reducing the “one purpose” of a Christ-centered life to the centuries old declaration concerning the chief end of man: To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
As a simple practical commentary to help build your daily life purpose we would add the Holy Spirit inspired life directions of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
All of us who love Jesus Christ and want to love and follow Him are then certain we are in the “very center of God’s will” in our heavenward journey. In these three simple commands from the Holy Spirit who cannot lie, we can have complete confidence we KNOW and are in the very CENTER of His will.
From the inspired words of the Holy Spirit we can also find help from our fellow Christians. For example, Frances Havergal beautifully captured the Christ-lovers purpose and heavenward trajectory with a few lines of rhyme:
Take My Life and Let It Be
Frances R. Havergal (1874)
Take my silver and my gold, Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour At Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself and I will be Ever, only, all for Thee.
To possibly help answer your great question, let us attempt to combine the Holy Spirit’s record of a life well focused on Jesus and see how Frances Havergal gave us a very pretty poetry attempt to help us remember Mary’s example:
– John 12:3-7 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said,“Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take
what was put in it. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.”
There are some written or spoken phrases that have such beautiful majesty about them, that when we receive them into our minds, we are driven to respectful silence as we contemplate the incredible depth of their meaning.
The following quote from G. Campbell Morgan can help us today to plumb the depth of your question:
“. . Mary at Bethany preparing Jesus for His burial, what the keen intuition the heart of woman seeing the shadows on His face more clearly than others saw, desiring to do something that would tell Him she saw and understood, breaking all the bounds of prudence as she poured the spikenard on feet and head, preparing Him, as He said, for His burial.
The phrase “seeing the shadows on His face more clearly than others saw” is such a profound truth, and is an attribute to be fervently desired and prayed for.
But, this beautiful passage in John 12 reminds us that we live in a fallen world, and, even though we see Christ’s face but dimly, we still have the ability to look for ways to honor Him and be a valuable component in His plans of redeeming lost souls until His return.
Jesus, who was facing the greatest pain the universe would ever know, knew He was called to face the suffering and separation as a Man from Holy God, His Father, as the sin of the world was placed upon Him.
In the last few days of His life, God the Father provided Mary with a sensitivity to what Jesus was facing and a desire to provide any comfort and encouragement possible.
Sweet sensitive Mary in this, looks into the face of Jesus, seeing ‘shadows of pain’ and, and we can imagine something like this as her heart cried out to her mind, ‘Oh, what can I do? Jesus is facing death by crucifixion which He plainly declared to us. It must be so for God’s work to be completed, but, oh, what can I do to comfort Him now?’
Surely, Mary’s heart pictured the coming death and her mind reviewed the burial process. How easy it is for our imagination to think of her heart and mind merging into one single determined act of worship saying something like, ‘I will pour out all my love to my Savior. I will take all my most valuable possessions and pour that rich fragrance on the head and feet of Jesus. Perhaps He will be comforted and encouraged in the door of pain which He must pass through.’
Mary takes her future earthly security (precious ointment), breaks the alabaster flask and pours the sweet-smelling contents on the head and feet of Jesus. All the people in the home were blessed as the fragrance filled the entire place.
This act of worship and SENSITIVE understanding pleased Jesus as He also fully understood that His feet would soon be nailed to that cross.
One can easily imagine traces of that precious ointment mingled with the blood flowing from His pierced feet, the floggings and lacerations from the crown of thorns upon His head.
Yes, Jesus, fully understood the purchase price required in the Cross experience. The death of the Man, Jesus, cost God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit everything!
Complimentary Truth: The supreme sacrifice of Jesus’ death on the Cross, to be effectual for us, likewise costs us everything we hold dear.
Your Great Question: How can I understand and know of my call in the Lord?
Your Daily Answer: You begin each day asking the Holy Spirit to direct you in giving back to Jesus all that you are and all that He has placed in your control
Mary, in her desire to show her love for Jesus, simply took what God the Father had placed in her hands and gave them back to Jesus. What did she have to give? 1.) Her personality. 2.) Affection / Love. 3.) Time. 4.) Abilities. 5.) Treasures.
It does not take much effort to imagine the “lines of sorrow” on the face of Jesus soften a little bit as He observed Mary’s act of devotion. Surely Jesus, in His omniscience would see in Mary’s act of loving devotion, the images of an “innumerable number of faces of future “Marys + Johns” as they would pour out their love for Him.
How would these future Christ-lovers pour out their love for Him? In loving obedience and compassion for lost souls they would obey and follow Jesus last commands on earth:
– Mark 16:15-16 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”
We are convinced that the very best way for us to be assured of being in the very center of God’s will for our lives is simply to tell as many people as possible the Greatest Love Story Ever Told! We tell our generation about the Innocent One [Jesus] who died for the Guilty [you and me] so the Guilty could be forgiven and live forever with God in heaven in perfect joy and peace after our death on earth.
Dear Friend, this purpose causes one to know in a day by day experience the blessing which accompanies the command we first mentioned in this note: – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
No one needs to be confused in the slightest about their knowing “my call in the Lord”!
Tell and show as many people every day of your love for your Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit has charged Himself with the responsibility, ONCE WE HAVE MADE OUR OPEN DECLARATION of our love for Jesus known, to take the “fragrance of our love, the seed of truth” and fill whomever He has determined to save and bring to heaven with us.
This is exactly what Mary did. She took whatever she had and offered it to her Savior in an act of worship and we read: . . the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
WasItForMe.com is dedicated to producing in video format the very inspired words of God in the Bible. We also enjoy corresponding to questions from inquirers.
To help you and others, please find attached a few of our videos. If you think they are encouraging, you could simply begin sending them to those you love and to others whom you might touch. Pray as you send them and ask the Holy Spirit to glorify Jesus and use this “fragrance” as an act of loving worship.
This dearest friend, is the answer to Your Great Question: How can I understand and know of my call in the Lord?
Does this note resonate in your heart? Please write back and tell us. We prayed for you, giving thanks for your desire to know the calling for your life. We pray that you would be very pleased to use what you have been offered and give back to your Lord and Savior, all that you are and all that He has placed in your hands, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
All our love to All, In Christ –
Jon + Philis + Friends @ WasItForMe.com
3 Crosses . . only 2 Criminals – https://vimeo.com/687983931
The Love of God – https://vimeo.com/user146864084
“I BELIEVE” – https://vimeo.com/943289655?share=copy
