GO FOR GOLD; GO FOR MORE

SUNDAY SERVICE

- Pastor Maselo Mosomane

LORD, my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forever. Psalm 131

What do you want from life? Let’s turn it around; what do you want to do with your life? What are your goals? We often hear these kinds of statements poised to encourage us to do more; go for more; reach the sky. It’s all in the mind. You can. The sky is the limit. Are you not familiar with expressions like these?

It is good to live a life of purpose and direction. All people of renown character will tell you how; through careful planning and meticulous implementation they managed to amass their wealth. If they could; you can. By following these kind of advises you may end up reaching heights you never thought you could. As a matter of fact; many who followed this route are listed among the greatest achievers in the land.

I worked for an insurance company; I come from this kind of background. I used the same material and I finally ascended the corporate ladder and became a Regional Manager controlling a budget of over two million – two million then. I appointed and trained sales managers who in turn appointed representatives. "Go for gold; go for more" That was my motivational talk. My men went for it and many achieved.

Much as you may reach great heights with such pep talks; these talks load you with more stress than the desired results. They drive you over-speed and you heat up. They keep on driving until your engine ceases to function. They stretch you until you are left with no elasticity in you and, they continue to stretch and stretch until you reach the breaking point. You get statements like this when this happen; "when the going gets tough, the tough gets going"

One lecturer at the bible college (who was also a medical doctor) warned us of the burnout syndrome - i.e. working yourself until you collapse. This is the problem when you are goal driven and not purpose driven. Rick Warren coined a beautiful statement and he calls it "purpose driven life"

We must be careful how we use these kinds of techniques; especially from the podium. Everyone has been created for a purpose and every purpose has its own limitations. Paul was called by God for a particular purpose and he wrote one third of the New Testament. On the other hand; Peter was also called by God (much earlier than Paul) and he wrote few pages of the bible. What makes the difference? Purpose. In our motivational world we would say Peter was complacent and would not want to risk his comfort zone. The truth about this illustration is that both had a calling and purpose, but their purpose was not the same. Everything works best when it serves its purpose.

You say Pastor Maselo; we should not encourage people to go for more? Are you saying people should be left to loaf around and do as little as they can? Do you know that all have power to excel in the field or career of their choice? Did you know that all they need is someone to give them a push? Take it easy! Is this what you are preaching to me today? Hold it preacher! Hold it just there! I thought I would follow your teachings but this calls for serious consideration.

No; this is not what I am saying. I am saying if you do so; you will be a slave driver – a task master who sees people only as beasts of burden. Everyone must find his purpose and excel in it; and your duty as a leader is to help them find it. When you do what you were created to do, you do what others call going an extra mile. The difference between your extra mile and my extra mile is purpose. It’s tiresome to do what you were not meant for. Also tiresome it is for someone to do what he was created for but with a wrong motive.

I always say; it’s easy for a dog to be a dog because it was created to be a dog. You may imitate a dog and bark. You may try hard enough until; when you bark few people could tell the difference. But you get tired of barking because you were not meant to bark. What I am saying is; stop training people to bark and make them realize that they were not created to bark but speak. Help them to stop barking; show them they are not dogs and help them do what they were created to do. All of us have a purpose; no one is left without one. Make people realize their purpose and you will be a true nation builder.

Before you put unnecessary pressure on yourself; find out what you were created for – this is your purpose. One thing I can tell you I am aware of is that you can multi-task and have good results. I know many of such people. But you were not created to function that way. The same thing can be said about your vest; you may use it to hold a hot pan out of the oven, but it was not manufactured for that. A vest is meant to be worn and not hold hot pans in the oven or pots on the stove. You may multi-function, but I encourage you to discover your purpose and be the best "you" ever. Not the best so and so. You are not so and so; neither shall his purpose be your purpose.

David says "LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me" The NLT puts it this way; "I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp". The Message Translation puts it in another way; "I haven’t meddled where I have no business or fantasized grandiose plans"

Paul said this inspired by the Holy Spirit; "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith" Romans 12:3

"Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forever"

In closing my brother and my sister; be calm and maintain a quiet mind. Like a weaned child who no longer cry for her mother’s milk; wean yourself from many things and, from this time forth find out what your purpose is and hope in the Lord forever. Trust Him and He will prosper you. Delight yourself in the Lord (i.e. in how He created you to function) and He will give you the desires of your heart. FUNCTION ACCORDING TO YOUR PURPOSE

God be with you today as you make finding His purpose for your life your purpose for the day.