Your purpose, your challenge

Philippians 3:14(NLT)

14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

A Christian should always press forward in the work they are doing for God knowing that the journey to reach heaven will be at hand one day. The race will have been run and the prize handed out to all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ.

This is a story by Randy Alcorn, from “Money and the Disciple” that is always worth sharing. Author Randy Alcorn recalled a two-month missions trip that he and his family took some years ago that included a visit to Egypt. While in Egypt, Alcorn's hosts took him to visit an abandoned graveyard located at the end of a garbage-lined alley. The host pointed out one tombstone in particular—that of William Borden (1887-1913), heir to the Borden dairy estate. William was a millionaire by 21, but he renounced his fortune, giving nearly all his wealth to missions. His heart's desire was to take the gospel to Muslims in China. On his way to China, William stopped in Egypt to study Arabic, but four months later he contracted spinal meningitis and died at the age of 25.

Alcorn writes:

I dusted off the inscription on the headstone of Borden's grave. After describing his love for Christ and his commitment to and his love for the Muslim people; and his sacrifices for God's kingdom; the inscription ended with some words I wrote down on the spot—and I have never forgotten them to this day. The inscription ended with, "Apart from faith in Christ there is no explanation for such a life."

Then Alcorn wrote, "And I thought, Lord, what's the explanation for my life?"

To have been a millionaire in 1908 would have been a great accomplishment. And yet William Borden chose to run a different race in life. He chose to give up everything in order to serve Christ.  Matthew 19:21-22 says, “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.” There was another young rich man who came to Jesus, but unlike that young man, William Borden was willing to sacrifice everything to follow Christ.

You see William Borden came to the conclusion that apart from Christ life is meaningless. You can have many riches, but what do they mean if you aren’t living your life to something important. What is the purpose for your life? Maybe there are challenges Christ is waiting for you to complete.