“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.” John 15:16
“You just do,” he answered. . . . It was the occasion of my brother and sister-in-law’s fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration when one of their grandsons asked his grandfather how it is “you manage to stay married for fifty years.” My brother just shrugged his shoulders. “You just do,” he said. It was a deep and profound answer, though; for the covenant they had made with each other and with God many years before to love, honor, and cherish means that “you just do” whatever it takes every single day to make that happen.
Several years ago I realized that in order to have a clear understanding of the purpose of my life I needed to have a personal mission statement, a sentence or phrase that clearly defined my life’s direction. It was not an easy project to find those exact words. In fact, it took almost two years of reading, journaling, praying and meditating to articulate exactly what my life’s mission really is. Then one day I read John 15:16 and the light went off. That little verse summed it up for me simply and clearly, “to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last”, so that every action I am about to take, every decision I am about to make, and every sentence I am about to state can be measured by this: will it bear fruit – fruit that will last? If it does it is probably the right thing, if not I should reconsider.
When my brother Richard and his lovely bride Janice said “I do” to God and each other fifty years ago (now fifty-one) their vows became the mission statement of their marriage. From then on every action, decision, and word could be measured against that mission statement. If what either of them was about to say, do, or decide lived out their vow to love, honor, and cherish then it was probably the right thing, if not they should reconsider. It is the secret to how they have managed to stay married all these years. They just do.
Do you have a clearly defined mission by which to measure your every word, action, and decision? Because once you do, then “you just do.”