Flourishing Forever 2. In 1806, a domesticated Hen began laying eggs that got everybody’s attention in Leeds, England. The Hen was, so to speak, laying eggs on which were written ‘Christ is coming’. People were trooping to Leeds to go see the hen and the eggs. It was only a matter of time before it was discovered that it was the owner of the Hen that was inscribing, ‘Christ is coming’ on the eggs and pushing the eggs back inside the Hen so the Hen could then lay them. There has been endless curiosity in our world about how the world would end and when it would end. In fact, there have been many instances in which people have predicted specific dates when the world would end.
We humans can be extremists sometimes, it’s in the Bible that the world is going to come to an end but we don’t need to start selling our properties and abandon all else. Wisdom is usually somewhere in the middle. Christ promised that he would return. This is a very important and foundational understanding that every Christian has to have a good grasp of. When you believe that Christ is coming back, it shapes your perspectives to life, to situations, and it ultimately shapes your behavior.
And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:8 NLT
Remember what Christ said about prayer in Matthew chapter 6? He said, don’t be like the Pharisees. They are hypocrites. They love to pray in open spaces where people can see them. You can do the things you’re supposed to do as a Christian, but for the wrong reasons. You can go to church for the wrong reasons. You can give for the wrong reasons. There was a person called Simon the Sorcerer who approached the apostles and wanted to give them a large amount of money for their anointing. And the record is that before the apostles came, he had held everyone spellbound in the city, and everyone believed he was a representative of God, until the original showed up.
God has a plan for your life, He has goals for your life. If the goals you are setting for yourself are within the context of the goals He set for your life, that’s great. But if you are busy cooking alternative plans for yourself, on the day you stand before him, we will find out who really defines success for your life. So let’s redefine success, it’s not just for you to set goals. Success is for you to discover God’s goals for your life and for you to achieve them.
An excerpt from the sermon by Pastor Sam Adeyemi on Sunday, June 9, 2024
Watch this sermon here