Monday, November 03, 2008

When Assessing One’s Lifework, 2 Samuel 5-8

Michael posted a comment noting that Second Baptist of Houston publishes a lesson plan for Explore the Bible teachers. This week’s lesson, “When Assessing One’s Lifework” should captivate member interest since we all wonder at times whether or not our lives are in line with God’s purposes. The lesson is based on 2 Samuel 5-8.

The text indicates that “progressive success (from the Lord’s perspective)” is the result of God’s blessing. As a servant of the Lord, David’s life successes were designed by the Lord as a blessing to all Israel.

Correspondingly, you might ask, how has your service to the Lord been a blessing to His church. For example, do you have a track record of successfully serving the Lord? Has He blessed you in teaching, administration, giving, etc.?

God gave David a period of rest, but David found it dissatisfying. He wanted to build a lavish home for the Ark of the Covenant, but the Lord intervened. Applying this to your life, you might ask, when has God intervened in my life? Did my failure in some endeavor imply a lack of the Lord’s blessing?

Can 20-20 hindsight serve as a guide for future action? Mark Rathel figures there is no such thing as a self-made man. What are your "secrets to success"?

I'm still trying to understand what application of this particular text is correct for Christians. Have you successfully figured it out?

1 comment:

photontorpedotube said...

Hello, I am blogging from Greenville, SC, through the Lifeway Explore the Bible series, among other subjects. Here is a link to my writing on this Lifeway lesson:

http://photontorpedotube.blogspot.com/2008/11/gods-promise-to-king-david.html

Do you want to exchange links? I put your site on my blog already. Ciao, Edwin