Vision Driven Life

Here's a quick summary of my small group's study of Matthew 16:21-17:27 last Thursday.

This passage comes immediately after Peter correctly identified that Jesus was the Christ. From this point, Jesus begins to explain to His disciples about his impending death and resurrection, but they don't seem to get it, especially Peter, who just 1 chapter ago was given the "keys of the kingdom of heaven". Now, all of a sudden Jesus calls him "Satan". That's quite a fall from grace.

Some of the key takeaways for us is not to be complacent about our faith. We may know some of the key themes and principles, but it takes alot more effort to actually internalise those concepts such that they are then reflected in our word and deed. This requires constant meditation on the Word, as well as active application through the exercise of our faith in obedience to God.

It is only through such active engagement that we can even hope to catch hold of the vision of God and serve Him accordingly. While an initial reading of Peter's response to Jesus' words may suggest concern or righteous indignation, I believe that it was a statement driven out of fear. In the same way, how much of what we do today springs from our fear of loneliness, ridicule, loss of status, etc. We strive to please the people around us because we want acceptance. We work hard to earn tonnes of cash to gain the admiration of (or at least not lose out to) our peers. Arguably our lives would be much more fulfilling if we aligned it right from the onset with God's purposes and vision. We would waste less time chasing things that don't actually make us any happier in the long run.

Let's set our sights on pouring our lives into something built to last, a vision that is so much bigger than our little agendas that our fears and insecurities would simply fade away!

One a lighter note, here's a short vid to show what would happen if we don't have a proper concept of Christ...