I want to be ambitious. Ambition is a gift from God. It drives people to varying degrees of success. It enabled weary, tired and barefoot soldiers to overcome dismal odds to establish a nation with unparalleled freedoms and opportunity. Ambition has been the engine of prosperity in this country for hundreds of years.
Ambition is a very important component of success, but many people limit it's use in their life. They use it to further their careers. Some people use it to corral more possessions: i.e., houses, cars, and even relationships. Often people utilize ambition to simply further their influence or agenda.
None of the aforementioned uses of ambition are inherently wrong. We should be ambitious and earnest in our careers. How else will we succeed unless we try to be our best? In addition enlarging our world can be beneficial if we are good stewards of our resources. Furthermore advancing a worthy idea or cause is always precipitated and carried out with ambition.
However ambition should also be used in the spiritual realm. This does not mean so much that we are to place our spiritual understanding and practices above others. It simply means that we need to be ambitious to know Christ. We should desire to learn more about the way that He thinks and acts. We should be ambitious to have a more complete walk with the Lord everyday.
Unfortunately too many people are complacent about their spiritual lives. Often they don't even realize this, but when it comes down to it they are satisfied with their understanding of Christ. They believe their perspective on biblical truth is satisfactory and suits their situation. They view the success of their spiritual lives as directly proportional to their spiritual superiority to those that surround them.
God does not want us to ever stop desiring a closer walk with Him. If there is any one place in our lives where we should not be complacent, it is our relationship with the Lord. We should be always be ambitious to know God more. We should never believe that any level of spiritual achievement is the pinnacle.
Part of the problem with our lack of ambition concerning spiritual matters comes from the fact that we view spirituality as an intellectual exercise. This is fallacious. We are walking with a risen savior who requires that we grow closer each and every day. Jesus wants us to know him and strive to understand ever more of an infinite God. This is life eternal that they know thee the only true God.
Nature, the word of God and the spirit of prophecy all manifest God's character. Each one of these is a book that cannot be exhausted. Yet how often do we put one of these books back on the shelf and boast that we possess them in our library while the dust on their pages testifies to their lack of use.
The day that we stop drinking from the fountain of life is the day that we stop knowing God.
Ambition is a very important component of success, but many people limit it's use in their life. They use it to further their careers. Some people use it to corral more possessions: i.e., houses, cars, and even relationships. Often people utilize ambition to simply further their influence or agenda.
None of the aforementioned uses of ambition are inherently wrong. We should be ambitious and earnest in our careers. How else will we succeed unless we try to be our best? In addition enlarging our world can be beneficial if we are good stewards of our resources. Furthermore advancing a worthy idea or cause is always precipitated and carried out with ambition.
However ambition should also be used in the spiritual realm. This does not mean so much that we are to place our spiritual understanding and practices above others. It simply means that we need to be ambitious to know Christ. We should desire to learn more about the way that He thinks and acts. We should be ambitious to have a more complete walk with the Lord everyday.
Unfortunately too many people are complacent about their spiritual lives. Often they don't even realize this, but when it comes down to it they are satisfied with their understanding of Christ. They believe their perspective on biblical truth is satisfactory and suits their situation. They view the success of their spiritual lives as directly proportional to their spiritual superiority to those that surround them.
God does not want us to ever stop desiring a closer walk with Him. If there is any one place in our lives where we should not be complacent, it is our relationship with the Lord. We should be always be ambitious to know God more. We should never believe that any level of spiritual achievement is the pinnacle.
Part of the problem with our lack of ambition concerning spiritual matters comes from the fact that we view spirituality as an intellectual exercise. This is fallacious. We are walking with a risen savior who requires that we grow closer each and every day. Jesus wants us to know him and strive to understand ever more of an infinite God. This is life eternal that they know thee the only true God.
Nature, the word of God and the spirit of prophecy all manifest God's character. Each one of these is a book that cannot be exhausted. Yet how often do we put one of these books back on the shelf and boast that we possess them in our library while the dust on their pages testifies to their lack of use.
The day that we stop drinking from the fountain of life is the day that we stop knowing God.
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