The motivation and message of a witness for Jesus

It’s an interesting question about what motivates people to do what they do?

I was listening to a story on the radio the other day about a lady who had achieved amazing things in her career but decided one day to finish work, live a simpler lifestyle and train to complete the Marathon des Sables which is a six-day, (156 miles) ultramarathon, which is approximately the distance of six regular marathons. If that doesn’t sound hard enough the race is held in Sahara Desert and has been called the toughest foot race on Earth. Anyone fancy signing up for next year’s race?

As I listened to the lady’s story, I did wonder what her motivation was to put herself through such a trial, to give up everything she once thought worthwhile to complete this challenge. What would motivate her to stick through the training, the lows and the challenges she faced before even getting to the race, and then to take part in such an endurance event what motivated her to keep going and complete it. At the end of the day all she would have gained is a trophy, an amazing sense of achievement, her name on an elite list of people crazy enough to of completed the race and some good dinner parties’ stories to share. If such simple and temporary outcomes can be a motivation to achieve something so demanding as the Marathon des Sables, how much more motivated as God’s people should we be to see His will be done on earth as in Heaven?

We know God has promised the power to enable us to be a witness, but we will also need to strengthen our motivation and understand with clarity the message we must share.

As God’s people we should be motivated by things that are eternal. Things that will last, things that really matter. Paul wrote that he considered everything else as loss and even as worthless garbage compared to gaining Jesus Christ. Our experience should tell us that knowing Jesus is of infinite worth, which means more than anything else.

This does not mean there is no value in the other things we do, and as you grow in faith, you will find that the things of eternal value and God’s kingdom will be interlinked with everything you do. Paul encourages us to always set our minds on things above, not on earthly things.