Making Your Life Count

By Lynette Schaefer

How can we make our life count for God in these difficult times? We are living in a time when so many things can distract us and throw us off course. Satan is alive and well; he and his demons are hard at work trying to discourage, deceive, destroy, and devour God's people, making them ineffective for the Kingdom. But the good news is that we have Jesus on our side who is bigger than Satan and will enable us to stay the course.

To counteract the effects of Satan and his demons, we have to make our lives count. That means we cannot afford to be passive or inattentive to the things of God. When we make it our responsibility to be obedient to the principles of God and do what He instructs us to do, we find that we reap numerous blessings in our lives and learn to bear much fruit for His kingdom. So, then, how do we go about making our lives count? Here are some suggestions:

1. Share the Gospel (Matt. 24:14). We are living in a time when Jesus can call us to Him at any time, so it is imperative that we continue to reach out to those who are still lost with the Gospel! How do we do that? If you are involved in a Bible believing church, it should offer numerous classes for training or missions and many opportunities for outreach into communities, neighborhoods, family interaction and the like. If you don't (and I'm sorry if you don't), the local library and the internet can offer sources where you can get information and tracts to hand out. Ray Comfort's Living Waters ministry is an excellent place where you can get tracts and learn many evangelism tips. Bill Fey came out with an excellent evangelism booklet a few years ago, called, "Sharing Jesus without Fear", which makes sharing the Gospel a lot less intimidating for the shy among us. Also, a good way to preach the Gospel is by utilizing discussion forums on the internet, where there is a wide reading audience. Sometimes, just giving a testimony of how the Lord has worked through your life to bless you is enough to trigger a response from someone else to ask questions. There are many avenues that any one of us can effectively use to reach people - we don't have to be missionaries or preachers in order to preach the Gospel!

2. Serving God and One Another (Matt. 25:34-46). One of the most important aspects of the Christian life is the role of Servanthood. As servants of God, when we respond to God's calling to do what He commands us to do to build up His Kingdom, He is not only glorified but He blesses us. There are so many places where we can serve the Lord: in our church, home, workplace, neighborhood or any place where we find ourselves. When opportunities present themselves, don't be passive and leave it for someone else to respond. These are times when people see the Lord's graciousness through us. For those who are hurting and are looking for answers to a better life, we may be the key to them.

3. Daily Bible Study/Devotionals (1Tim. 4:13). In order to walk closely with God, we have to KNOW HIM. We know Him best from what He reveals to us in His Word. It's important to form the habit of reading the Word daily, so we can gain a deep understanding of the heart and mind of God, and know how to relate to Him in an acceptable manner. He gave us His Word and does not want us to remain ignorant.

4. Prayer (James 5:16). God wants and expects us to communicate with Him in everything. He longs to bless and reveal His presence to us. He also wants to direct and guide our steps in our lives; therefore communicating with Him strengthens our relationship together and brings us comfort. Prayer also cleanses us of sin and liberates from guilt, and it gives God the opportunity to solve problems we can't handle. It is very encouraging to have prayers answered, and sometimes in a very mighty way! Through regular prayer we grow close to God and know Him better each day.

5. Assembling with other believers (Heb. 10:25). It is vital to be connected with a healthy, Bible-believing church. In these days of apostasy, that may be a daunting task and it may have been a discouraging experience for some of you. But living the Christian life is downright hard if you're not connected to a good church. If you are not currently in a good church, it might be well worth your while to search for one. The internet can help. Many church denominations have a parent organization that lists all the churches for that denomination on their website. I would try to steer clear of liberal church denominations with liberal doctrines and look for conservative churches where you are going to be spiritually fed the truth of Scripture each time. Once you find a doctrinally-sound church in your area, be sure you attend church regularly and get involved in areas of serving and study so you can grow in your walk with the Lord. If you have children, this is especially important.

6. Watch for Jesus (Mark 13:32-37). We are living in perilous times in history, near the end of the Age as we know it. Prophecies are unfolding daily or almost daily. Very interesting things are happening, and times are both exciting and very difficult. When we make it our business to watch for the Lord like He told us to in Mark 13 above, we can understand the current events that are unfolding better than when we don't pay attention. Every day I like to read several articles that speak of what is happening in current events as it relates to Bible prophecy. Each one of them is enlightening in one way or another, and they help me to stay on track with Eternity and with what is written in the Word. Prophecy discussion forums are good to read and helpful, too, so sometimes I like to participate in them. Watching for Jesus helps us to be on the alert for His coming, because this is precisely the time we need to be wide awake and to warn others, not asleep or oblivious to what is happening.

7. Living a holy life (Eph. 4:24). We are called throughout the Scriptures to live a holy life before God. The reason is because God is holy by nature. Just because we are under Grace instead of Law does not mean it is okay to live unholy and disobedient lives. We are commanded to be holy and to reflect Him in our lives. Although we can never be perfect (that's why we have a Savior), we strive to make it our lifestyle to live a holy and godly life.

Making our life count for God involves being sensitive and conforming to the Lord's agenda instead of focusing on ourselves and our own agendas. It means surrendering our lives and wills over to Him to mold according to His purpose. It means to totally trust in the Lord and to let go of fear and anxiety we may have over "end times" or our own inadequacies. God has many great blessings in store for us! All we need to do is to respond in faith and trust.