Motivation: The Desire to Obey and Honor God
Jesus had an unwavering motivation--his desire to honor God. He set the example for our motivation in this life: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work” (John 4:34). Jesus was concerned with pleasing His Father, and so should we be motivated by that same concern. He always did the Father’s will, motivated by pleasing Him through obedience (John 8:29). His obedience extended all the way to the cross where He humbled Himself and “became obedient unto death” (Philippians 2:8). Our motivation should be the same as His—the obedience by which we prove we are truly His. “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). In John 5:30, Jesus says, “I seek not to please myself but him who sent me” (John 5:30b NIV).
[Insert quotes from Olympic athletes who choose to honor God with their sport.]
Why do you do what you do? Who or what are you serving? Recently, I was reading a devotional by the late Dr. David R. Reid, a faculty member at Emmaus Bible College who wrote devotionals for Young Life ministries for over 39 years. I will borrow the premise of his devotional while adding an updated twist. The 2016 Olympics was inspiring and exciting, but now it’s over. That is, for everyone except the athletes. Even now, and for the next few years these athletes have their minds set on the next Olympics. What fuels their desire --is it a medal or a goal? Are the two even separate? You certainly can’t earn a medal without a goal, but is the desire for the shimmer of gold glory, or is there some richer, more fulfilling aspect to the training? If you only train for a treasure that will surely fade, it will not be enough to sustain you through the tough parts of training. If your only desire is to beat the person next to you, your eyes are fixed on that person. Scripture tells us to “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus’ motivation was the joy of finishing God’s work and honoring his father by being the ultimate perfect sacrifice. That joy and eternal glory was motivation enough to keep him focused during the most grueling, disheartening, terrifying, and painful trial any human being has ever experienced.
When practice is tedious or hard, or you’re terrified on the blocks before a race, what is your motivation? Can you bring glory to God by finishing the work he set before you? No doubt the act of finishing God’s work was not pleasurable to Jesus, but he endured and experienced the joy of eternal victory. If God has you here, he has work for you to do. That victory may be getting out of your own way to see what strength and endurance God has placed in you. We know that God has a plan for your life, and we also know he has given you what it takes to live out that plan. Psalm 139:13-17 reminds us that “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. 17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! (NLT)
Let’s commit to finishing strong because your faithfulness and endurance honors what God knit into you, and completes the work set before you. You honor God and bring glory to his name. His strength is made perfect in your weakness. We will use the opportunities our swim team workouts and competitions give us to please him.
How has God enabled you to obey Him in the past?
What are you motivated to do to honor him now?
What does it take to get you through a particularly hard trial?
Do you check your motivations for the things you desire to do/experience? Many times the answer is Jesus speaking; wanting to have a conversation with you about that motivation.