What is Your Letter?

A student of Amherst College, soon after entering, put over the door of his dormitory room the letter V.  Because of it he endured all sorts of ridicule and withstood questioning.  But he paid no attention to either, nor would he disclose the secret of the letter.  When his four years were over, and graduation day came, that student was appointed to deliver the valedictory.  Then the mystery of that letter V was revealed; it stood for “valedictory.”

That letter on the door held before him during his four years the ideal that he had set for himself.  Not every boy puts a letter over the door of his college room or over the door of his house.  But nevertheless, somewhere, if only in his mind, there is a letter that he pastes there and that holds before him an ideal.

Some put up the letter M that stands for money.  Others put up F, for fame.  Others put up S, which may stand either for self or for service.  It is a good idea once in a while to step outside your door and look at the letter you have put there.  It may be that when you realize what it is, you will want to change it. *

The letter that we choose reflects our “A” – our ambition.  Ambition is a particular goal or aim that we pursue in our lives.

What letter identifies the ambition of your life?

The Apostle Paul pinpoints the greatest ambition of a person’s life: “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him” (2 Corinthians 5:9).

Recently, Bob Turner discussed how making the ambition to please God affects every aspect of our lives:

·         Relationships within our families will be shaped by Biblical principles.

·         Our conduct on the job is influenced by a God-fearing [and God-loving] attitude.

·         We interact with other people with a greater level of patience and compassion. *

Why would we want to make it our ambition in life to please God?  Because of what He has done for us!

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV).

When our sins separated us from God and put us on the course to destruction (Isaiah 59:1-2; Matthew 7:13-14), God – because of His great love for us – sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins (Romans 5:8).  Through Jesus, we can be saved from our sins and receive the gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23).

God will save and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who have made it their life’s ambition to please Him by following in the steps of Jesus (1 John 1:7).

Won’t YOU make it your ambition to please the Lord by accepting His offer of salvation and then living for Him?

-- David A. Sargent

* Sources: Illustration contributed by Moody Monthly and found in www.moreillustrations.com and “Ambition” by Bob Turner in Daily Bread (Tuesday, June 7, 2016), an e-mail publication of the Bear Valley church of Christ, Denver, CO.

David A. Sargent, Minister