What Will My Future Be Like?

"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit'; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.'" (James 4:13-15 NKJ)

So it's the first day of 2014. The first day of the rest of my life. Many opportunities to consider. Many choices open for reflection. Many decisions to be made. What am I to do about my future? Before proceeding, it is important to reflect upon my values and the resultant passion.

In his The YOU Plan: A 5-Step Guide To Taking Charge of Your Career In the New Economy, Dr. Michael Woodward writes, "Values can be thought of as the personal code upon which you build the foundation of your life. They are the principles that you hold near and dear and that define your character" (pg. 23).

Woodward offers three questions to help me identify and define my values. What am I willing to pay for? Fight for? Sacrifice for? Answering these questions is certainly not for the faint-of-heart, it is a journey in reality . . . personal reality.

I am thinking about this year and the rest of my life. There is still much that I can do for the Lord. I simply need to focus on the path that I will follow to achieve his will. And that, I tell myself, is what the rest of my life is all about . . . the Lord's will. And my values will focus me in the right direction, because God implanted them in me.

Though similar in many respects to those of other people, my values are uniquely meaningful to me. As I identify my values, it is important to remember Woodward's three focusing questions. For things are truly valued only if I am willing to pay for, fight for, and sacrifice for them.

Of course, this is no mere academic exercise of making a bucket list. I'm talking about how I'm going to live and minister in 2014. I am concerned about intentional ministry and passionate living. The same old routine -- the rut of the past -- no longer gratifies my spirit.

In his second letter to Timothy, Paul wrote, "I am now ready to be offered." I, on the other hand, am prepared to die, but am not ready to go just yet. And according to the Lord's will, there is much yet to be  achieved for him. I am still paying, fighting, and sacrificing.

Dear Father, thank you for paying for my salvation, fighting for my soul, and sacrificing your son in the bargain. Inspire me with the appropriate values to passionately and intentionally pursue your will. I pray this in the name of Jesus. AMEN

Today, consider your future carefully,