Are you living a purposeful life or are you wandering aimlessly? Are you circling or spiraling?

Life is a circular movement. We go around a 24 hour cycle. As of today, we have completed 5 weeks this year. The sun has risen and set 37 times this year. We have gone about our lives for 888 hours and made moment by moment decisions for 53,280 minutes this year. How do you think you are doing so far? Would you describe yourself as a purposeful Christian or an aimless one?

Circling or spiralling?

To circle is to follow the same path over and over again without actually going anywhere. The phrase “going around in circles” suggests we have been busy doing a lot but without actually achieving anything. It represents an aimless life.

To spiral is to rotate about a fixed point while continuously increasing in distance. Most of the time we tend to use the word to describe someone who is moving in a negative direction – eg. To spiral out of control or going on a downward spiral. I want to use the word today to describe one who is moving in a circular motion yet making progress in the right direction. Spiralling forward – it represents a purposeful life.

Life is a circular movement. Everyday we maintain routines that keep us functionally. These routines are important to maintain the momentum needed to move forward. The crucial thing is to develop healthy routines without getting stuck in a rut. Our aim is to avoid going around in circles but to ensure we are spiralling forward. To illustrate this point I want to use the first two generations of Israelites living in the wilderness. The first generation circled around a mountain for forty years, while the second generation began their journey walking around a wall.

The first generation circled around a mountain because of unbelief

Deuteronomy 1:32-36 (NLT) “But even after all he did, you refused to trust the Lord your God, who goes before you looking for the best places to camp, guiding you with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. “when the Lord heard your complaining, he became very angry. So he solemnly swore, ‘not one of you from this wicked generation will live to see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the Lord completely.

They “refused to trust the Lord”. This suggests that there was an intentional decision made not to trust the Lord. It didn’t happen overnight. The book of Exodus gives us details of a people who complained, murmured, rebelled and finally rejected God’s plan for their lives. Note the frustration in Moses’ words – “even after all God did”. He summarises God’s deeds:

– “looking for the best places to camp” – they were unfamiliar with the terrain, so they needed God to direct them. God didn’t just a safe place but the best places to camp. That’s His nature. He seeks to provide the best for His people.

– “guiding you” – pillar of fire at night (to keep them warm), pillar of cloud by day (to keep them cool).

But when circumstances changed – their response was to complain, rebel and reject. Eventually they decided in Kadesh Barnea they were not going to obey God and turned back. They opted to circle around Mount Sinai and the region of Mount Sier. The entire generation accept for Caleb and Joshua died in the wilderness. They never saw the promised land. Never experienced the fullness of the promises of God.

Living life in circular movements look like you’re moving. You grow older, you raise a family, you get promotions or your business grows, the digits in your bank balance increase, you stack up life experiences, but you end up in a box without experiencing the promise of life in abundance. You go through the motions, the routine but are stuck in a rut. That is aimless Christianity.

The second generation circled around a wall because of obedience

Joshua 6:1-5 (NKJV) Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the LORD said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”

God promised the next generation the same thing He did with the first, a land flowing with milk and honey. As soon as they obey the hit a wall. How real that experience is for many of us. The moment we decide to obey God and move forward, some obstacle or challenge confronts us. We hit a wall.

The people of Israel had to make a choice. They could give up and turn back as their fathers did and go back to circling around a mountain; or they could obey God and do as he says. What they had to do was similar to the first generation, they had to walk in circles. But they weren’t walking around a mountian, they were walking around a wall. They weren’t circling a mountian aimlessly, they were walking around a wall intentionally. They were “spiralling” – adjusting their movement based on God’s word. They were moving purposefully towards the promise land. They had to get to God’s promise but a wall was in the way. So God said circle it till the wall comes down. They had specific tasks to do on a daily basis – same 24 hour cycle – but adjusting their lives based on the word of the Lord. Six days circle once a day in silence, seventh day circle 7 times and shout. Six days same routine. No room to deviate. Follow strictly to the set pattern of behaviour. Wake up, go do according to what the Lord has told to do. Walk around the wall once in silence. Routine but not a rut; purposeful not aimless – circling till the walls come down. Six days the same routine. Then on the seventh day – according to God’s word – cirlce seven times, and shout. If they had continued the seventh day circling once in silence they would not have seen the walls come down. The lesson here is that routine acts don’t create a rut. Routine acts outside God’s input is where the rut sets in.

The first generation settled for what they decided was best for them. The second generation settled for what was God’s best for them. One faced mountains all their lives, the other saw walls come tumbling down. That’s why I keep praying for the sick – I see sickness as a wall that must come tumbling down. That’s why I work with people who struggle with addictions – I see it as a wall that must come down. That’s why we pray for the lost – the walls that hinder them from experiencing the love of God must come down. That’s why we distribute food parcels once a month to those who are in need – we see poverty as a wall that must come down.

To accept sickness, addiction and poverty as my lot in life or karma will condemn me to a life of circling around the mountain and rob me of Christ’s promise of abundant life. So I will treat every obstacle that get’s in the way of God’s promises as a wall. I’ll walk around it – everyday – purposefully – hearing from God – pray differently, do things differently – not circling but spiralling forward until the walls come tumbling down.

How do you know if you are circling or spiralling? You are circling if you are living an aimless Christian life. You are spiralling if you are being the Christian you are purposed to be. You are circling if all you do is complain, murmur and fail to see the goodness of God in your life. You are spiralling forward if you are hearing Him daily and adjusting your prayers, adjusting your actions and believing that whatever is preventing God’s best for your life is like a wall God is going bring down.

What does it look like to be a purposeful Christian

In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus teaches us what is the purpose of a disciple of Christ. In verses 13 to 16, he calls us salt and light. We are agents of change. Our everyday life should transform the environment we are in with “God-flavours” and “God-colours”.

A purposeful Christian produces God-flavours

Matthew 5:13 (NLT) “you are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

The message translation brings the meaning out so beautifully.

Matthew 5:13 (msg) “let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the god-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

Do you bring out God-flavours around people or do you leave a bad taste in their mouths? You may ask what is this God-flavour? I call it the Trinitarian combo: The love of God the Father, the grace of God the Son and the comfort of God the Holy Spirit. Wherever we are, whomever we are with, our purpose us to fill the environment with the love of God, the grace of Christ and the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

A purposeful Christian produces God-colours

Jesus goes on to give another description of a disciple.

Matthew 5:14-16 (NLT) “you are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly father.

Again we lend ourselves to the Message translation.

Matthew 5:14-16 (MSG) “here’s another way to put it: you’re here to be light, bringing out the god-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If i make you light-bearers, you don’t think i’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that i’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with god, this generous father in heaven.

In a dark world, the disciple of Christ transforms an environment into light. Where there is light you see colour. God’s light will produce God-colours.

Don’t settle and wander around a mountain. Don’t live your Christian life aimlessly. Don’t circle, spiral forward. See every obstacle as a wall that must come down. While you circle around your walls – whatever is hindering God’s best for your life – don’t give up. You may have to pray differently but keep praying. You may have to do things differently but keep at it. Until the walls come down.

While you do that – remember: Keep giving out God-flavours and God-colours.

Don’t circle aimlessly; Spiral forward purposefully.

Do you know the difference between the temporal and the eternal? Are you investing in the right areas of your life so that you are not caught wanting in the end? This week we look at the critical need to know the difference between what are temporal things in life and what have eternal consequences.

We take our cue from the father of faith Abraham.

Genesis 12:8 (NKJV) And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.

He pitched a tent and built and altar.

Tent and altar – know the difference

The tent is a means to an end. Symbolically it speaks of the wilderness life. When one lives in the wilderness you pitch tents. You do not build anything permanent because you are always on the move. The tent represents what is transient.

The altar on the other hand is a permanent thing. It is a symbol of dedication and sacrifice. It is a reminder of the Divine and eternal. For Abraham God was the reason why he was doing what he was doing. He built altars in significant places and times in his life to remind him of why he was doing what he was doing. The altar was the reminder of what was the essence of his life. His motivation, his purpose for living.

Abraham pitched tents and built altars. We need to know the difference. The tent is for the journey. The altar is to remind you why you are on the journey. If you fail to identify what are tents and what is the altar, you will be focusing on the temporal, while trivialising the eternal.

The context of this passage is when Abraham received the covenant blessing from God.

Genesis 12:1-3 (NKJV) Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

The blessing that Abraham received had two parts to it. A blessing that came with a responsibility.

The Covenant Blessings

• I will make you a great nation

• I will bless you and make your name great

• I will bless those who bless you

• I will curse him who curses you

The Covenant responsibility:

• You shall be a blessing

• And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed

The blessing is the tent. The great nation and the great name is temporal. The God who blesses is the altar. Becoming a blessing through God is the eternal. When me and my blessings become the focus, I miss the plot. When the temporal is treated as the eternal, my life is a chaos. You pitch tents and build altars. Get it wrong and live life investing in trivial and temporal things while neglecting the things that are of eternal value. This is the reason why many christians don’t seem to be living the eternal life Christ promised us.

The cost of getting it wrong – The Tower of Babel

The story of the Tower of Babel is a familiar one. If you revisit the passage where the story occurs, it is inserted in a very odd place in the book of Genesis. Chapter ten gives us the genealogy of the sons of Noah and ends with a summary statement that all the nations of the world came out of these generations. Moses then pauses and inserts this story of Babel at the beginning of chapter eleven and then goes on in verse ten to give a detailed genealogy of Shem in order to introduce Abram.

If you leave out the story of Babel you will still see a clear flow of the narrative describing the genealogy of the three sons of Noah and moving on to one of his son’s Shem in order to get to the story of Abram. Why then did Moses insert the story of Babel in such an odd place. He did it to emphasise the contrast between the drivenness of man at the Tower of Babel and the blessedness of Abram in chapter 12.

Genesis 11:4 (NKJV) And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

Note the language in Babel – man said “build ourselves, make a name for ourselves”. Contrast that with the blessing Abram received – God said “I will make you”, “I will bless you”.

The final outcome at Babel was catastrophic – confusion and scattering. A life of chaos.

Genesis 11:8-9 (NKJV) So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Pitch tents and build altars. Get it wrong – its confusion, scattering and chaos.

The reward of getting it right – The Upper Room

There was another gathering of people recorded in the Bible. This time in the book of Acts. It was the event that described the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. It occurred after fifty days from Christ’s resurrection. The Bible tells us that Jesus spent time with his disciples after resurrection, teaching them about the Kingdom of God. The disciples had to relearn that the Messiah has come not to make the nation Israel great again. It wasn’t about overthrowing the Roman Empire and reinstating a King and restoring a physical government. Christ came to establish another Kingdom. A Kingdom not made of human hands. God was establishing His Kingdom, His rule. It was the restoration of the promise God made to Abraham – “through you all the families of the earth will be blessed”. The words of the apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost speaks of that.

Acts 2:38-39 (NKJV) Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

The focus was no longer overthrowing the Roman empire and becoming a great nation again. The focus became blessing all people. Look what happened when they got it right.

Acts 2:42-47 (NKJV) And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

The early church recognised what were tents and what was the altar; What were means to an end and what was of eternal value. They used their resources to invest in people’s lives and the outcome was the Kingdom life manifested among them.

Pitch tents and build altars. Get it right – its gladness, simplicity of heart, praising God and favour with all. Most importantly salvation to many.

Tents and altars – getting it right matters

Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 gives us the importance of getting this right.

The tent is our present life, the altar is our eternal dwelling

2 Corinthians 5:1-4 (NKJV) For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.

We live by faith through the Holy Spirit

2 Corinthians 5:5-8 (NKJV) Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Our aim is to please God

2 Corinthians 5:9 (NKJV) Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.

Getting it right has eternal consequences

2 Corinthians 5:10 (NKJV) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

So let us make sure we discern the temporal and the eternal.

Remember:

You pitch tents and build altars. The tent is for the journey. The altar is to remind you why you are on the journey.

Know the difference. Get it wrong and you will be focusing on the temporal, while trivialising the eternal.

The blessing is the temporal. Becoming a blessing through God is the eternal.

Pitch tents, build altars.

Christians and the Bible. How do we make sense of an ancient literature, written in a span of over 1,500 years by nearly 40 authors? Covering a time span from the stone age, bronze age, iron age, into the age of the internet. Life and times have changed so rapidly. Even the mode of transmitting the words of God have changed from the time Moses chiselled the commandments of God on stone tablets to how we access these same words on our digital tablets.

How we handle the Bible will determine whether we stay in the shadows or engage intimately with Christ. I propose a movement from principles to practice to the Person Jesus Christ. We draw principles from what we read in the Bible. We then apply those principles in our daily lives – that’s the practice. But it doesn’t stop there. It’s not practice for the sake of practice. We do not practice Biblical principles just to be better people or to book a place in heaven. We put into practice Biblical principles so that we draw closer to God. The Christian life is about believing in a person and living intimately with a person – Jesus Christ.

WE BECOME BETTER PEOPLE NOT BECAUSE WE ARE PRACTICING THE RIGHT THINGS. WE BECOME BETTER PEOPLE BECAUSE WE ARE BEING WITH JESUS AND BECOMING LIKE HIM TO THE POINT WE REFLECT HIM MORE IN OUR LIVES.

The becoming of a Christian is this this movement that must happen daily in our lives, where we draw principles from the Bible, endeavour by God’s grace to put them into practice in our lives, in order to draw near and abide in the presence of the person Jesus Christ.

FROM PRINCIPLE TO PRACTICE TO THE PERSON JESUS CHRIST

The problem with Christianity is that some Christians merely emphasise their version of truth that they have derived from the Bible. They insist that it’s all about what you believe. Get the doctrines right, make the right stands. Know what you believe and why you believe it – to the point that the Christian faith has become merely an intellectual exercise or in some cases a rallying point for political agendas.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to get our doctrines in order. If that’s all you do – if you stop at just believing the right thing without seeking how to apply these truths in your daily lives – then it is just another form of religion. Jesus came not to establish another religion but to become the way to God. Religion is God’s way to God. Noble gesture but unattainable however sincere one may be. Christianity as a religion is as futile as any other. We are not called to adhere to the religion of Christianity. We are called into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

MERELY BELIEVING SOMETHING WITHOUT LIVING IT IN OUR DAILY LIVES IS PLACING GOD IN A DISTANCE

You can’t just believe truth. You must draw principles from truth. Principles are livable truth. Truth that can be applied consistently in our daily lives. Let me illustrate with one example from the Old Testament.

Exodus 21:23-25 (NKJV) But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

In this passage, Moses seems to be laying down some practice that the people of Israel were to adhere to under his leadership in the wilderness. For ages this has been adopted as a principle. That’s how we should respond when a wrong has been done. The principle is “a life for a life, eye for an eye, tooth for tooth…”. When someone harms you, you have the right to harm them back. Let’s call it the doctrine of retaliation. That’s why we can justify the death penalty as Christians. That’s why there are Christians who can march into Washington DC, invade the Capital building carrying large banners that said Jesus Saves and Jesus 2020, without any concern about the harm to lives and property. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth – if the government has done harm to me I have the right to harm them back.

First of all let me say this – I do not presume to understand neither to judge those who engage in political protests and dissent. I’m merely stating that if we read the passage in Exodus as a divine principle rather than a societal practice, then we can claim permission to harm those who have harmed us. By bypassing a principle and adopting a practice as if it was a universal principle, is a sure way of going off on a tangent, drifting further away from the presence of God.

You can’t just draw truth from a practice. You must draw principles it. Principles are livable truth. Truth that can be applied consistently in our daily lives no matter who, when or where.

Jesus’ interpretation of the same passage

Matthew 5:38-44 (NKJV) “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you…”

Luke 6:27-31 (NKJV) “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

Both Matthew and Luke show us that Jesus interpreted that passage very differently from the teachings of his day. He first reverses the practice of the day – you don’t retaliate. You don’t repay evil for evil. In fact he teaches us to do the opposite. We are to respond with good. Luke gives us the principle behind the practice – “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”

Here then we get a glimpse of what was behind the practice Moses was implementing in the wilderness. Do to others as you want them to do to you. If you do not want to lose an eye, don’t harm someone else’s eye. If you do not want to lose a tooth, don’t harm someone else’s tooth. If you do not want to lose your life, don’t harm someone else’s life. Do unto others as you want them to do to you.

Get the principle right, the practice then will follow. The principle is not an eye for an eye. The principle is do to others what you want others to do to you. Apply that principle in your daily life. The practices will change depending on the circumstances of the day – but the principle remains the same.

THE IMPORTANCE OF GETTING THE PRINCIPLE RIGHT

Jesus goes on at the end of the two passages in Matthew and Luke to give us the reason why it is important to get our principles and practices right.

Matthew 5:45 (NKJV) that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Luke 6:35-36 (NKJV) and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

When we get the principle right, our practice will be right. Right living will reflect the God we worship. This is the real test wether your so called truth is a principle that will lead to good practice. If it draws you closer to Christ so as to reflect Him more perfectly.

Paul and the Sabbath

Here’s another example on how making a practice a principle can lead us away from God.

Colossians 2:16-17 (NKJV) So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

Paul had to address a situation among the churches that had Gentile believers and Jewish believers. Some Jewish teachers were insisting that Christians had to practice all the feasts, festivals and religious days that Moses had instituted. That included practicing the Sabbath the way the Jews practiced it – on the seventh day. They had taken a practice and turned it into a principle.

The Gentiles could never practice the Sabbath along with the Jewish believers on the seventh day as they would have had to join them in the synagogue. No Gentile would be allowed in the synagogue unless they were circumcised and were practising the laws of Moses. Paul clearly warned the church – that kind of belief will cause us to remain in the shadows without experiencing the true substance of the person Jesus Christ. Everything we do must bring us closer to experiencing more and more of Christ.

John 5:39-40 (NKJV) You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

The principles of God found in the Bible should lead us to practices that draw us closer and closer to Jesus. So let us reassess the way we are using the Bible. Are we merely going to the Scriptures to get truth? Are we going to Scriptures to imitate practises. Or are we going to the Bible everyday to draw closer and closer in our relationship with Jesus. Let’s go to the Word of God with this mindset:

TO KNOW CHRIST – WHAT ARE THE SCRIPTURES TEACHING ME ABOUT JESUS?

Philippians 3:10 (NKJV) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death

TO PUT ON CHRIST – HOW CAN I APPLY WHAT I HAVE LEARNT ABOUT CHRIST THROUGHOUT MY DAY?

Galatians 3:26-29 (NKJV) For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

TO REFLECT CHRIST – IS MY LIFE REFLECTING MORE OF CHRIST AND LESS OF ME?

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT) So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

THIS YEAR LETS MOVE OUT OF THE SHADOWS AND INTO REAL SUBSTANCE – KNOWING CHRIST, LIVING CHRIST AND REFLECTING CHRIST TO THE WORLD.