Thursday, October 05, 2006

Purpose in life

We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

In human history, what attack has resulted in the greatest loss of life? The atomic strike on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of WWII? That event resulted in the eventual death of some 200,000 people. But there was an even worse assault on human life hundreds of years earlier, an assault that killed over 25 million people. I am speaking of the attack of the Black Death.

The Black Death, otherwise known as bubonic plague, entered Europe from China and central Asia in 1347, when the Kipchak army, besieging a Genoese trading post in the Crimea, catapulted plague-infested corpses into the town. From there, the disease spread to Mediterranean ports of trade and eventually throughout the continent. The plague was highly contagious and extremely deadly—on average, one out of every three Europeans died from contracting it.

In the year 1516, plague broke out in Wittenberg, Germany. It was here that Martin Luther was living, and his daily life soon came to include caring for the sick and dying. Friends urged him to leave the city, fearing for his health, but in a letter Luther responded as follows: "The plague is here and is beginning its destructive work, chiefly among the dear youth. You advise me to flee from Wittenberg. I am confident that the world will not collapse even if Brother Martin were to die. Because of my duty to remain here, I cannot flee till the duty that has called me here commands me to depart."

Martin Luther placed himself in harm’s way for the sake of duty. God had given him skills that were needed by the plague victims; as a clergyman, Luther had been prepared to listen to their fears, tell them of Jesus’ own suffering and death, forgive their sins as Jesus’ appointed representative, and comfort them with the Savior’s promise of eternal life in paradise. Luther knew that God had placed him then and there to be the voice and hands of Christ to those who were suffering the terrors of the plague; Luther believed the word of God which says we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

You are God’s workmanship as well. You have been created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Whatever duty the Lord has assigned to you, do it without fear, for God will support you in doing what He has created you to do.

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