Holy Ambitions

Last night I had one of the best times of fellowship I have had in a long time. After the English meeting at my church, some teens and parents decided to go and play "tag" in a park near the church. I thought it was very random, but I was up to it. Upon arrival, we instead choose to sit around and discuss opinions and ideas.(I enjoyed this a lot more than tag!)

Then something amazing happened! One of the girls asked Muppet(Nickname), the youth leader, what he wanted to do for God, or what was his holy ambition. He gave a strong and ambitious response, but a very passionate as well. Muppet wanted to share the gospel to 1,000,000 people.

That first question was followed up by another question: Who do you look up to in your local church, and why?

Muppet thought about it for a while, and then gave the name of two men that had dedicated their lives to ministry. He admired them because of the passion the men had, and how they had given up so many opportunities to serve God.

As all 12 teens took turns answering these deep questions. I thought of how important it was to be spiritually mature in order to define your holy ambition, or what you want to do for God in life. A crucial part of maturing into an adult is the fact that God gives you a holy ambition, and your life goal is to live it out. For some in the group that night it was going on missionary journeys to plant churches, for some it was being an evangelist, for some girls is was to simply be a mom, but everyone knew what they wanted to do for God's glory.

Kind David knew he was going to be a king from a very young age. Jesus knew He was going to be The Savior from a very young age. Timothy knew he was going to be a pastor at a young age. The apostle John knew he was going to be an evangelist from a very young age. God gives us dreams and ambitions at very young ages because that is when we are strong enough, and crazy enough to obey.

As I looked around the group, I tried flash-forwarding 10 years into the future, and thought of how many of us would truly live out what we felt at that time.

For me, personally, I know God wants me to be two things. #1 Be the best father I can be, to as many children as God wants me to have. I would love to be an example, a teacher, a provider, a protector, a husband, and a mentor. I feel like God has placed that passion in me for a purpose. #2 I want to be a leader in my local church. I know that God has given me leadership skills to use in the church that God has placed me in. I want to be the leader of a ministry, leader of a small group, and if God puts it in my heart, even the leader of my own church. This is my holy ambition.

The person I admire most that I know at a personal level is a man who, in a way, embodies what I wish to become one day. He has a beautiful family, and is extremely dedicated to them. He is also a leader in my church, and is in charge of whole ministries while at the same time being the leader of a small group at his own house. On top of all that, he often travels on missionary trips. He has an amazing personality, and has great fervor for the things of the Lord.

What will my life look like in 10 years? I dare not speculate, for God may yet take hold of me, and change me completely, but I am sure that with Gods help, I will be able to fulfill my calling. All this, for the glory of God.

What about you?

What is your Holy ambition?

And who is the person(s) that you know personally, and look up too? And why?