Steven J. Lawson said, “The greatest knowledge is to know Christ. The greatest adventure is to follow Him. The greatest privilege is to serve Him.” What a fantastic backdrop against which to live our lives! If we ingest this and use it as a guide, our lives will be full of purpose, full of meaning, and devoid of regrets. Read the first line again. Doesn’t that excite you? We have the privilege of knowing the Son of God on a personal level.
Incredibly, He invites us to follow Him and to partner with Him in His mission of declaring the gospel to the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). Somehow, someway, He deems us worthy to be His disciples. He regards us worthy to be His servants, His hands and feet in this world. We’re talking about the Creator of everything and the King of the Universe. That’s astonishing!
The greatest knowledge is to know Christ
I know a guy who seems to know a little about everything. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and believe what he espouses is all true. Do you know what all that knowledge will get him when his time on earth is done? Not a thing. All that impressive knowledge will be as dead as his body. Only the knowledge of Jesus will carry over from death to life. Put away your news feeds and cancel your social media. One must prioritize the knowledge of Jesus above all else to live a life full of purpose.
The greatest adventure is to follow Him
There is nothing safe about following Jesus. Let’s review some of the statements Jesus made to his followers: The world will hate us (John 15:18-20), we could be homeless (Matthew 8:19-20), we’ll face many troubles in life (John 16:33), and our families will betray us (Matthew 10:21-22). This is not a mission for the weak-kneed or hesitant, but no worthy mission ever is. If we follow Him, we will see people transformed by His power. We will see them delivered from their sins, and we’ll have a front-row seat at the coming of our Lord. If adventure appeals to you, you will find none greater than this.
The greatest privilege is to serve Him
If you want to live a life full of purpose, then serve Jesus, and, by extension, serve others. There is nothing so fulfilling as being used by God to be the answer to someone else’s prayer. There is no greater peace when you lay your head down each night than to look back on a day of fulfilling the needs of others. It’s the proverbial, “good tired.” The Lord doesn’t need us to be His hands and feet, but He elects to use us this way so we might understand that His mission is our mission, and to give us the joy of being used by Him.
For the Christian, a life full of purpose consists of knowing Christ deeply, following Him no matter the cost, and serving Him with everything we’ve got (Matthew 16:24-26; Mark 12:28-31). Nothing else matters except what you do for Jesus. Let Him consume your thoughts, words, and actions. Surrender everything to Him and find your purpose in His mission. This is what it means to live your life fully devoted to Christ.