What Will You Be Known For?

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins! I also sincerely hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

This weeks "Happy Friday" is going to be short and sweet. Hopefully a thought provoking message that you, and I, will choose to act upon every day of our lives.

What will you be known for? At the end of your life, when your family and friends gather to remember the life you have lived, what will you be known for? The Pastor posed this question at the beginning of the sermon last week and I have thought often about that question throughout this past week.

When the question is asked, it has nothing to do with status or some accomplishment. It's not about starting some great business, making a lot of money or setting some record. Those very well might be things you do, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with striving for them, however your status and accomplishments do not define who you are, nor do your failures and setbacks. It is much bigger than any of those things!

Many people struggle or question when reading in Acts 13:22 that God made David King because he was "a man after my own heart." A man after God's own heart? The murderer? The adulterer? David? Agapebiblestudy.com says it well, "When David sinned, he always repented and returned to God. He completely committed himself to the will of God." So while David killed the lion and bear, while he conquered Jerusalem, while he defeated Goliath and yes, while he committed murder and adultery, what he is known for is being a man after God's own heart.

David's life kinda sounds like, well, life doesn't it? God has a plan and purpose for his life. He goes from tremendous successes to tremendous failures and back and forth. He wants to do good and tries to do good and yet, he continually finds ways to stumble and fall. Before we get all judgmental this morning, perhaps we should look in the mirror! :) I pray that whoever and wherever you are this morning you will find encouragement in the life David lived. If a man who committed murder and adultery can be known for being a man after God's own heart, don't you think God has mercy, grace, and a purpose for your life as well? Be encouraged Friends, be encouraged! :)

So, I am going to put myself out there this morning. As I have thought and prayed about what I want to be known for this week I have come to two things:
1. I want to be known as a man of great faith. I don't want to be defined by my circumstances, my reactions to them, my successes or my failures, but by my faith in God, by my faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and personal Savior, and the continual leading of the Holy Spirit within me. I could tell you all of the times I have failed, of where I feel I fall terribly short in these areas or I can believe that my faith is being worked out until the day the Lord returns, as the Bible tells me. I can follow the example of David and every time I sin I can repent and return to God, just as the Bible tells me to do. Yes, I, or more accurately God, has a lot of work to do however I fully intend to continue to pursue God and my faith every day of my life. First and foremost, I pray that I will be known as a man of great faith.

2. I want to be known as a man that genuinely cared about others. I believe to the depths of my soul that God placed my on this earth to encourage, empower, and equip others to become the best they are capable of becoming. I pray that God will give me the knowledge, wisdom, strength and courage to fulfill this purpose in the life of every person I am blessed to cross paths with. I pray that I will not see with earthly eyes but spiritual eyes that allow me to see the greatness and goodness in every person. That I will truly seek to serve and to not be served. That I will always be willing to help anyone and everyone in need that I can. If my epitaph is "Kevin was a great man of faith who genuinely cared about everyone" I will consider this to have been a life well lived, and incredibly blessed! :)

This morning, Dear Friends, I want to encourage you to seriously think and pray about what you want to be known for. It is critically important that we determine who or what we want to be or we will wonder aimlessly. None of us can hit a target or goal that we don't know, that we have not defined. Don't worry about how far you are from something, how daunting or impossible it may seem...if you feel a conviction in your spirit go for it! Regardless, whether you heed my advice or not, you WILL be known for something. What will you be known for?

And then, once you have determined who or what you will be known for, start working this out in your life every day. It hit me as profound when I typed it earlier - "the life you have lived." It's that last word, "lived." Successes/failures, good days/bad days, happy/sad, etc. It's life! But are we really living it?! Are we really striving for the greatness that God has placed in us? Are we really seeking God? Are we really striving to do His will? Or are we simply saying I would like to be or do this or that without putting any intentionality to it? Are we alive?! I want to live, each and every day, to the fullest! Goals or purposes with no action are as useless as no goals and no purposes! We were not created to be useless! We were created to live, for His glory and to serve others! Oh Dear Friends, I pray that each and every one of us will be fully alive! 

Ultimately, all of this, what we will be known for, whether or not we will truly live this life, etc., is purely up to each and every one of us to decide. Nobody can tell anyone else who or what they should be. We must all choose...we will choose. And the consequences of those choices do have eternal consequences. 

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your families. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious families, and Go Coogs!

Kev