"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper 

you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

As I was preparing for the first class of the upcoming Christian Living Academy (starting this Sunday - Jan 24), I did a google search on "what God wants for us".  I was interested in articles or opinions talking about what God wants for our lives.  I was surprised when almost all the responses I got to my search were about what God wants FROM us.  

I see that as symptomatic of a condition that has been prevalent throughout church history. It's been worse in some eras and in some denominations, but even us "saved by grace" evangelicals can at times fall into this trap of feeling my Christian life is all about what I can do for God.  It may be more correct to say "what I've been taught I'm supposed to do for God".

Now, I don't want anyone to misunderstand me here.  I believe that as Christians we are called to a certain lifestyle and to a life of service to God.  No question. The problem is that even if we know better we can feel like our acts of service are a means of earning our salvation, or at the very least the means of earning God's approval. 

The truth is that anything God asks of us is something He wants to use for our own benefit. He doesn't ask us to serve Him because he's short of workers and needs help to get things done.  God can do whatever He wants, without any assistance from me or you.  The things we refuse to do, or do grudgingly because we feel obligated, are actually things God knows will be for our benefit.

I went through a time in my early thirties when I was getting kind of discouraged about church.  We were living in Edmonton, attending a really good church with a wonderful pastor.  Yet I was coming home every Sunday feeling like I wasn't praying enough.  I wasn't giving enough.  I wasn't witnessing enough.  I wasn't working hard enough.  I felt like God was saying "it's never going to be enough!".  

Of course God was saying no such thing. The problem was that I was interpreting God's instructions, things He intended to be for my good, as onerous jobs I could never do well enough no matter how hard I tried. The result for me, at least briefly, was guilt and discouragement.  I came to realize later in life that God never intended to put me on a guilt trip or cause me to be discouraged about all the things I could never do enough of. Rather, God was inviting me to enter into a lifestyle that would help me. God wants to fulfill Jesus' promise, who said "I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full." He wants me to have a great life!  And oh yeah, if I really do pursue the great things God has in store for me, others around might just benefit as well.

God has given us instructions about praying and giving and witnessing and serving.  There's no question about that.  But he's not a boss cracking the whip on an assembly line to get more production out of us.  He's using these instructions and many other principles in His word to guide us toward the wonderful life he wants us to experience, right here on Earth. Being a child of God brings with it a blessed hope for an eternity with Jesus, but it also brings the hope of a life here that is filled with joy and peace and contentment.  

Our Christian life is not about what God wants FROM us. It's about being where God wants us to be, and living our lives in a way that God can provide all the things He want FOR us.

We're going to spend the next seven weeks exploring this on Sunday mornings and afternoons at the Christian Living Academy.  If you haven't registered yet, we can still make room for you this Sunday.