What are your intentions?
Has anyone asked you such a question? How does it feel to be put on the spot about your intentions? More often than not we keep our intentions to ourselves. Yet, our direction and action becomes a giveaway of our intentions. Every one has a purpose, goal, aim, plan, meaning, target in mind. There is no such a thing as unintentional success. Things don’t just happen.
Jesus confronted disciples on this: "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46) Then he proceeded to illustrate his point with a story of the Wise and Foolish Builders. People’s actions demonstrate their intent. What is our intent as a church family? Do you intend to sin? Do you intend not to sin?
How often do you reflect on your intentions? For beholding we become changed (2 Corinthians 3:18). We become what we intend to become. I know it’s a cliché; but clichés are truisms – they are true.
This week number of youth intended and did attend the Revival Series with Jose Rojas. What an experience it was!!! I also heard a lot of wishful thinking and talk, with no intent to back it, with no actions to show for. And this could be said for many other areas of our church life. We say we want to evangelize the community but we do not intend to invite anybody or even show up ourselves. We say we want our kids to be brought to Jesus, but we don’t intend to bring them even for a youth meeting with pastor. As I visited this week with new interests a question was posed to me: what is Adventism is all about? My answer was brief, in Jose Rojas’ style: “Hanging out with Jesus!” That’s what Christianity is all about – living in Christ’s presence all the time, being mini-Christs; “little-mesiahs” – that’s how Antiochians called followers of Jesus, that’s how word “Christians” first came to be. What’s your intention?
Jesus tells disciples that our intent must be to remain in Him. The best way to live is to be in Jesus and allow Him to be in us and produce through us (John 15:4-5), because we can do nothing apart from Him.
When considering your church, ask yourself – “what is my intention for my church?” Your church will be what you intend it to be. Your church family is what you intend it to be. Look at the city around us – 82% of people you see are unchurched. They have not met Jesus. How do you intend to bring them to Jesus? For being Christian means being a fisher of men, and being Adventist is telling them the loud cry of three angels, inviting them to come out of worldly living into God’s glorious light. So, what are your intentions?
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