Sunday 11th January, 2009

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LIVING FOR A VISION!

• They say religion answers the question “Why are we here?” Try personalising the question – why are you here? What do you think is the point of your life? How does your faith make a difference in answering this very hard question?

• Try one (or both) of the exercises below. Let your imagination, ambition and even your ego run wild. This is an exercise in aspirations so don’t hold back!
  

• Write your own obituary! Imagine it’s many, many years in the future, you’ve died and a newspaper is reporting your death. What would you love them to write about you and your life?

• Imagine some people are talking about you when you’re not there. What would you like them to be saying?

• Look at what you wrote for the previous exercise. If you have done this properly you have been writing out a description of the person you would like to be. What do you notice about it? Does it seem possible to be that person? What kind of things have you written? Are they mostly about your character – the type of person you’d like to be – or are they about achievements – the things you’d like to do? What does this tell you about yourself? Should you try to balance the two types of elements out?

• How do you feel about the idea of changing? Would you like to change? Do you feel the need to change? Or do you feel as though you’re more or less where you’d like to be? Why do you feel like this and is it a good thing to feel?

• Try to write out a vision for your life. Maybe do it as a brainstorm rather than prose, as this avoids prioritising and means nothing is written in stone. It’s good to check back and make changes and additions from time to time.

• How does having a vision make you feel about what you’d like to do with your life? Read Luke 4:14-21 and John 10:7-18 for Jesus’ vision for his life. Read Genesis 1:28-2:25 for God’s vision for people.

• Do you feel overwhelmed by your vision? If you don’t you probably haven’t been brave enough. Read Exodus 3:1 – 4:17 for the account when God gives Moses a vision for his life. How could you apply the verses in Exodus 4:10-12 to your own fears? Meditate on this whenever you’re feeling intimidated by the path ahead.

• Read Hebrews 11 to see how vision gives us the power to persevere. Read Hebrews 12:1-3 and consider what our vision should be focused on. Is this the central part of your vision? If not, how could you make it the central ingredient?

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