THE RIGHT AMBITION
Introduction:
By
nature, humans are ambitious. We all want to do something good in and with our
lives and leave a significant footprint behind. No one wants to be a cheat or a
crook. When you ask children what they want to become when they grow up, they
usually say, I want to be like, Michael Jordon, Steph Curry, a film actor,
doctor, or engineer, etc.
Here are some funny ambitions of
kids: "When I grow up, I want to be a customer in a store. I will buy
broccoli, tomatoes, and carrots, and when I get home, I will make soup with
them." "I want to be a person who cleans tables." "I will
one day be a Potato." I want to be a wolf." "I want to be a
batman." "When I grow up, I want to be like Mommy."[1]
We laugh at these ambitions; for example,
to be a potato or a wolf, some may or may never happen. What is ambition? I
found this definition on LinkedIn "Ambition means a strong desire to do or
achieve something in life. Ambition gives us aims, objectives, goals, and
targets in life. It gives us a sense of direction and motivation toward our
goals in life.[2]
We all need
ambition. Without it, we remain purposeless and useless. It is one thing to
have ambition but another thing to have the right ambition. Some
quotes on ambition: "There is one weakness in people for which there is no
remedy. It is the universal weakness of lack of ambition. – Napoleon Hill. "The
man who starts out simply with the idea of getting rich won't succeed; you must
have a larger ambition." John D. Rockefeller. What is your ambition?
Last week we saw how we fold our earthly tent and be
transferred to our true home, our new bodies. In today's passage, we will see
what happens to us when we die, what should be the right and supreme ambition
in life and death, and how we will be judged based on how we lived on this
earth. Considering that, how can we live out our daily existence in this world?
Vs. 6-8, "So we are always confident, even though
we know that as long as we live in these bodies, we are not at home with the
Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident,
and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at
home with the Lord. In NASB, Vs. 8, "but we are of good courage and prefer
rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Let me
unpack these verses.
What does it mean, "as long as we live in these
bodies, we are not at home with the Lord?" It means while we are alive on
earth, we are away from the fulness of God's presence. It does not mean we have
no contact with God while we still live on this earth.
The Holy Spirit enables us to connect with God
regularly through prayer, Bible reading, and fellowship. We live not by sight
but by faith. Paul expressed heavenly homesickness and a strong desire to be at
home with his Lord. Then he says in verse 8, "but we are of good courage
and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord."
I.
What does it mean to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord?
Paul states that he is confident in his eternal
destiny and longs for the day when he can be "absent from the body"
and be present with the Lord he loves and serves. To be "absent" from
one's body means to die because, at death, the spirit is separated from the
body and moves into its eternal abode—heaven with the Lord or hell, separated
from God for eternity.
Paul struggled to choose whether to remain in the earthly body or to be with God in heaven. He expressed his struggle to the Philippian believers as he wrote from a Roman prison.
Philippians 1:21-24 "For to me, living means
living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more
fruitful work for Christ. So, I really do not know which is better. I am torn
between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better
for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live."
Paul's ambition in life was to glorify the Lord Jesus
Christ. If he lived, he could continue to labor for the Lord. If he faced
execution, he would depart this life and be with Christ. He desired to be with
his Savior, but if he remained on earth, he could continue ministering to
others. Pay attention to one word, "confidence." It occurs ten times
in II Corinthians.
Despite all hardships, Paul was always confident in
the Lord because he had the same faith as David, who said, "They (the
righteous) do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the LORD to care for them."
Psalm 112:6. We all go through hard times; some are more than others, but
people of God will put their firm trust in God, who created the heavens and the
earth.
We do not live by sight but by faith. We can hope for
a heaven that we have not seen. We do that by believing what the Scriptures say
about it and living by that belief. Have you wondered what happens to people
when they die? The Bible indicates that both believers and non-believers will
have resurrected bodies. Daniel 12:2, "Many of those whose bodies lie dead
and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and
everlasting disgrace." When a born-again believer dies, his soul
immediately enters the Lord's presence in conscious bliss, awaiting that grand resurrection day! Then
what happens?
II.
What happens when we all come before the Judgment seat of Christ? (Vs. 10)
Vs.10, "For we must all stand before Christ to be
judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have
done in this earthly body." Unfortunately, many people live irresponsibly
as though they don't need to give account to anybody in this world and the
world to come. The Bible teaches us. It is appointed for men to be born once
and die once.
Then we all must stand before Jesus Christ and give an
account of how we lived in this world. You may evade the justice system and
never be caught, but you can not escape facing the righteous Judge when you
die. Believers in Christ will go to heaven, and others will go to hell.
III.
The right ambition. (Vs. 9)
Vs.9, "So whether we are here in this body or
away from this body, our goal is to please him." "Therefore, we also
have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him."
(NASB). Paul was speaking of his aim in life, but not the proud and selfish
desire that the word expresses in English. "Aim" is from Greek,
meaning "to love what is honorable.
Paul demonstrated that it is fitting and noble for the
believer to strive for excellence and all that is honorable before God. Phil
3:13-14, "Brothers, I do not
consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies
behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for
the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
Paul's highest ambition was to Please Him in life and
death. That was the right ambition, and it should be so for every believer.
Please, God? Can God even be pleased? How do we live out the right ambition of
pleasing God? Scriptures give us clues about what pleases God.
When it comes to pleasing God, Jesus and Paul are our
models. Jesus said, John 8:29, "And the one who sent me is with me—he has
not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him." Jesus did, and we,
too, can do things pleasing to God. What are they?
When we live by faith and do not doubt God's character, it pleases God. Hebrews 11:6, "And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." We please God; when we live holy lives and offer bodies as living sacrifices. (Romans 12:1-2).
When we share the gospel of love with others, God is
pleased. (I Thes 2:4). "Hebrews 13:16, "And don't forget to do good
and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God."
These and more help us reach our right ambition of pleasing God in life and
death. If you are already working out this right ambition, don't stop it.
Increase it even more.
[1] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4681722/Teachers-share-young-students-hilarious-life-goals.html
