Completing Our Lives

UV 4212/10000 Completing Our Lives So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, outfitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3 v 17 The purpose of God is to make each believer complete and competent not to compete but to serve both God and man in every possible way. The word of God is the means by which this objective of completing or fulfilling us is accomplished. We are to be proficient in the word if we are to excel in this world. The word furnishes us with answers to every question, doubt, problem, difficulty, challenge that we will ever face. The path that the word carves for each of us enables us to avoid the pathology of this sinful world. We move from the shadow of hamartia or being incomplete people to being fulfilled, fully satisfied, fully competent persons equipped and enabled to tackle everything that the enemy, the world and life itself can throw at us. Jesus is the prototype or ultimate model of the complete person. He proved Himself stronger than Samson and wiser than Solomon. Hence, He enjoys glory or greatness greater than all of created nature- from the glory of the lily in the valley to the sunset on the mountain and the vast expanse of the stars and galaxies. He emptied Himself of every drop of blood in His body in the ultimate sacrifice in all of history. He humbled Himself to be as nothing even though He had, has and will always have absolute power and glory. Each of us in contrast are an unfinished work and the Lord promises to finish us even as He said on the cross – IT IS FINISHED. The enemy wants to finish us while God wants to refine us. He often refines or completes us through experiences resembling deep water and intense fire. Thereby, we discover depths and dimensions of ourselves that we never imagined or thought existed in us. The Lord equips us spiritually, socially, mentally, emotionally, financially, physically to undertake His purpose in our lives. This is our calling in life. It is a purpose that goes beyond our career goals, our professional targets, our personal priorities and even our lifetime. Like a lemon or fruit that has every ounce of juice squeezed out of it, we need to complete our task, fulfill our purpose in Christ by exerting with every ounce of strength, energy, resource, talent we possess in combination with the wisdom, grace and empowerment by the Holy Spirit the Lord releases into us and our lives. The word “outfitted” in the uni-verse implies that the Lord uses His word to “bespoke” or clothe us in a customized, personalized or individualized manner. He gives us the gifts we need to use the opportunities as well as challenges He sends our way to glorify His name, extend His kingdom or His influence, build His church or extended body.