The Monday Memo from John Stanko

WELCOME TO THE MONDAY MEMO

Welcome to the home of the Monday Memo! In 2001, I began writing the Monday Memo in response to people who had heard my purpose message but said they needed to hear more. They wanted more content to help them think through and then identify the purpose in their life, so I began writing a weekly entry to fill that need. My goal was to write six to eight paragraphs every week that focused on the topics of purpose and faith. Eventually I expanded the repertoire to include entries on creativity, goals, and leadership. Little did I know that the Monday Memo would still be going strong more than two decades later!

At first, I managed those who subscribed through Outlook, but before I knew it, I had 18,000 subscribers, and eventually my email program crashed under the "weight" of so many names and emails. Plus, it was a headache for me to manage the list—especially if someone wanted to unsubscribe. In 2006, I converted what I was doing to a blog format and have maintained that since then.

Eventually, I began gathering Memos of like theme into documents and turned them into books when they were long enough (a few are pictured here; all are available on Amazon). To date, I have published 15 books from Memo content with more coming, including my six-part Unlocking series (unlocking the power of your purpose, creativity, productivity, you, faith, and thinking). Now I have expanded my weekly entries to incorporate other themes, but purpose and creativity are still my main foci. I have told people as long as they keep reading, I will keep on writing.

If you check out the categories on the right side of this page, I'm sure you will find themes and topics of interest that will help you be more purposeful, creative, and productive. I would estimate about 90% of the Memos are original, with some borrowed from the archives around the holidays or when I was traveling. I welcome your comments and questions, for writing and talking about purpose never gets tired. You can also subscribe to receive the Memo every week on the top right side of this page.

I invite you to check out my website for more video content on similar topics and you can also download my free mobile app to have that content at your fingertips when you have time to watch or listen. Thanks again for visiting and remember, "You have something to do that only you can do, something for you to be that only you can be. God wants you to know what it is, so if your heart is to hear, His heart is to speak." Enjoy your purpose quest and if I can be of service as you seek, please let me know.

Monday Memo 1173: Faith Reasoning

We're coming to the end of our 'Never Too Old for Purpose' series but we still have a few more lessons to cover. Let's take another look at Abraham this week, specifically at the sacrifice of Isaac:

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death (Hebrews 11:17-19, NASB).

Let's review what we know. God had promised Abraham an heir from whom would come a nation of people. After waiting many years, the heir finally came and they named him Isaac. However, when Isaac was about 15 years old (which made Abraham about 115), the Lord spoke to Abraham to go to a place God would show him and sacrifice the son of promise—Abraham's future hope.

Notice that it says God tested Abraham, which doesn't indicate Abraham was deficient in his faith, but that God was showing him, Isaac, and today's readers the depth and quality of his faith. Without hesitation, Abraham made plans to do so and would have sacrificed Isaac had not God intervened. What was going on here?

The writer of Hebrews tells us, "Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead." Abraham applied everything he knew about himself, his experiences, and his God to come to the conclusion that if he did indeed sacrifice Isaac, then God would raise him from the dead—an unprecedented action for anyone to consider in Abraham's day. We're told that in a sense, Abraham did receive Isaac 'back from the dead,' for in his mind and heart, he had already sacrificed him.

You can use the reasoning skills God gave you to find a way to do His will or to excuse your self from doing it. What God expects of the old(er) is for them to lead the way in faith because their experience qualifies and equips them to do so. What faith lessons of the past can you apply to the present in a way that will enhance and not hinder your progress in the Lord?How well are you leading the faith way in your family, church, or ministry? How can you do more to set a faith example for others to follow?

After all Abraham had been through, God will still working in his life, even in his old age. And we're glad God did that, for we now have a sterling example of someone who was not too old for faith and purpose. Because he wasn't, we have no excuse not to walk out our faith even in our retirement years just as Abraham did. Have a blessed week!

Monday Memo 1172: Depression

After Elijah's victorious encounter with the prophets of Baal, Jezebel threatened to kill him in retaliation for putting her prophetic cohort to death:

Elijah was afraid and fled for his life; he took his servant and went to Beersheba in Judah. Leaving the servant there, Elijah walked a whole day into the wilderness. He stopped and sat down in the shade of a tree and wished he would die. “It's too much, Lord,” he prayed. “Take away my life; I might as well be dead!”

He lay down under the tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said, “Wake up and eat.” He looked around and saw a loaf of bread and a jar of water near his head. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The Lord's angel returned and woke him up a second time, saying, “Get up and eat, or the trip will be too much for you.” Elijah got up, ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to walk forty days to Sinai, the holy mountain. There he went into a cave to spend the night (1 Kings 19:3-9. GNT).

By the sound of the account, it seems like Elijah was depressed, walking for an entire day in the wilderness and then doing nothing but sleeping and eating. God was with him, giving him rest and food, but God didn't allow Elijah to linger in the cave of depression for too long:

"Return to the wilderness near Damascus, then enter the city and anoint Hazael as king of Syria; anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet" (1 Kings 19:15-16, GNT).

There was still work to do and God expected Elijah to carry on and also prepare for his eventual transition—thus he had to anoint his successor while he was still healing from his depression. Little did Elijah know, however, that God had a glorious departure planned for him: "Then suddenly a chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire came between them, and Elijah was taken up to heaven by a whirlwind" (2 Kings 2:11).

In this series, Never Too Old for Purpose, we have looked at various aspects of those who purposefully serve the Lord in their latter years. We see in today's lesson that depression and fatigue are two of the obstacles that we all face no matter our age. However, when you're a bit older and have had a few more disappointments, the depression and hopelessness can become debilitating. Yes the answer is rest and rejuvenation, but it's also continuing the purpose work that God has assigned for you to do.

How are you doing these days? Are you tired and weary, fearful and disillusioned? Are you wishing that the end would come as Elijah stated to God? If so, God knows and He is with you. He will give you what you need to be healed and part of that healing is knowing that your job isn't finished—yet. Ask God to show you what's left for you to do and then slowly, as you're able, get back in the game like Elijah did.

Yes, your end is nearer than it's ever been but  God has more purposeful days ahead for you. I can't promise that a chariot of fire is going to come and rescue you from your trials, but I can promise that God is with you and He is mindful of your labors for Him—and He knows how to reward His servants like you. Have a blessed week.

Monday Memo 1171: The Way You Should Go

An oft-quoted proverb about raising children is found in this familiar verse:

Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he grows older he will not abandon it (Proverbs 22:6).

Of course, first and foremost, it would seem that this training pertains to instruction concerning God's requirements for righteous living. But I think it's more than that. As we learned in the last series, Never Too Young for Purpose, God is revealing to the young who they are and what He has created them to do. He was doing that for you in your early years.

But as we saw in that series, the concerns and difficulties of making a living can often derail or detour youthful purpose. But the good news in today's verse is that the instruction you received as a young person, whether about holiness or purpose, isn't as far away from you as you may think, no matter how old you are or how long since you have paid attention to it.

When I was young, I loved to collect stamps. I had a lot of U.S. stamps but the ones I really loved were the ones from other countries. I would research where those countries were located and promised myself, "I'll go there one day." Today I have been in more than 60 of those countries.

One of my rainy-day activities as a child was to play with my toy typewriter. I would type out articles from magazines or pages from a book and then stack the papers on my desk, pretending that I was writing a book. Today I have written 90 books and still going strong. Now that I look back, I see that the "way I should go" was evident in those two activities.

And I was always a good student. I went back to school when I was 57 to earn my doctor of ministry degree. And now, at age 74, I am learning Spanish and just started Ukrainian in preparation for a trip there in a few months. Studying was always part of 'my way' and there's no reason to stop learning now.

So what was part of your "way you should go" when you were younger? How can you reconnect with those things, regardless of your age? Are you thinking, 'I'm too old,' or are you thinking 'I can do all things through Christ and this is something I need and want to do'?

Your purpose and creativity don't have an expiration date and they are remarkably resilient and don't spoil or decay with time. Therefore, you're never too old for purpose thinking or purposeful action. I urge you this week to reflect on your past and find out what parts of it you can still bring into your present so you can have a purposeful future. Have a blessed week!

Monday Memo 1170: A Gift From God

When I was young(er), I read Ecclesiastes but it didn't make much sense to me. It seemed that the writer was a bitter old man who was disillusioned with life, love, and the Lord. For example, he wrote,

God has laid a miserable fate upon us. I have seen everything done in this world, and I tell you, it is all useless. It is like chasing the wind. You can't straighten out what is crooked; you can't count things that aren't there. I told myself, “I have become a great man, far wiser than anyone who ruled Jerusalem before me. I know what wisdom and knowledge really are.” I was determined to learn the difference between knowledge and foolishness, wisdom and madness. But I found out that I might as well be chasing the wind. The wiser you are, the more worries you have; the more you know, the more it hurts (Ecclesiastes 1:13-18, GNT).

Now that I'm old(er), I read the same book and it makes more sense. The writer, probably Solomon, had experienced most of what being the king had to offer: fame, fortune, and the finer things of life. However, he came to the conclusion that it was all meaningless, vanity according to one translation. And then he ended his book with this rather depressing summary of old age:

So remember your Creator while you are still young, before those dismal days and years come when you will say, “I don't enjoy life.” That is when the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars will grow dim for you, and the rain clouds will never pass away. Then your arms, that have protected you, will tremble, and your legs, now strong, will grow weak. Your teeth will be too few to chew your food, and your eyes too dim to see clearly. Your ears will be deaf to the noise of the street. You will barely be able to hear the mill as it grinds or music as it plays, but even the song of a bird will wake you from sleep. You will be afraid of high places, and walking will be dangerous. Your hair will turn white; you will hardly be able to drag yourself along, and all desire will be gone (Ecclesiastes 12:1-5, GNT).

But typical to this wisdom writer's style, buried in his lament on the futility of life, he gave us the answer to happiness and fulfillment. In the above passage, he advised, "So remember your Creator while you are still young" and then earlier in the book he wrote,

This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, emphasis added).

So the key to a happy old age is to enjoy the Lord while you are young and do meaningful, purposeful while you can, remembering that life is short. Older folks always told me that my senior years would be here before I knew it—and they were right. Now I encourage you to make the most of the days you have, for they truly are a gift from God, and all of us are closer to our end today than we were yesterday, which is what Solomon was trying to tell us all along. Have a blessed week.

Monday Memo 1169: Old-Age Anger

Elisha was a prophet, the successor to Elijah who was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. When Elisha was on his deathbed, the king of Israel came for some counsel of what to do against his enemies. Elisha gave him this directive:

Then Elisha told the king to take the other arrows and strike the ground with them. The king struck the ground three times, and then stopped. This made Elisha angry, and he said to the king, “You should have struck five or six times, and then you would have won complete victory over the Syrians; but now you will defeat them only three times.” Elisha died and was buried (2 Kings 13:18-20).

Perhaps God was angry with the king who wasn't aggressive enough when he shot his arrows, but could there be another angle to this story? I maintain that Elisha had an anger problem throughout his life and when he was old, it had not diminished but continued to create a dangerous edge to his prophetic ministry. Let me explain. When we first meet Elisha, this is what we see:

As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys (2 Kings 2:23-24).

Then when his servant Gehazi coveted some of Naaman's goods and lied about it, we read

But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money or to accept clothes—or olive groves and vineyards, or flocks and herds, or male and female slaves? Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow (2 Kings 5:26-27).

And then we have the instance of Elisha's anger in his last days at the king who didn't strike the ground with enough fervor. Were the young boys and Gehazi guilty in their encounter with the prophet? Should the king have been more forceful? Yes, but It also seems it was rather dangerous to be around Elisha, especially if someone didn't do what he thought they should do.

Elisha didn't mellow with age; he carried his anger with him to his grave. At no point do we see that the Lord directed him to do these things we read about in Elisha's life. It's possible that his anger unleashed a destructive power that caused great damage and to assume it was God's will for all this to happen may be correct—but it may not be as well. The Bible never says God directed Elisha to do or say the things he did, but it never says God didn't. It's left for us to decide.

In this series 'Never Too Old for Purpose,' we have examined how to finish well in your purpose. I maintain Elisha did not finish well because of his anger. All of us have known angry old people who have a lot more life experiences over which to be upset and angry. I pray you and I won't be identified as such.

There's an old saying that if you don't deal with your anger, your anger will deal with you. I urge you to not allow anger to dominate your latter years, and that starts with confronting your anger when you're young. Then allow the fruit of the Spirit—patience, gentleness, kindness, self-control—to be the characteristics of your old-age purpose years so that you aren't unpleasant or toxic to be around as Elisha appears to have been. Have a blessed week.

Monday Memo 1168: Thrive or Just Survive?

I ran across a few of God's promises to His older saints in my study this week. The first is in Isaiah:

"I am your God and will take care of you until you are old and your hair is gray. I made you and will care for you; I will give you help and rescue you" (Isaiah 46:4, GNT).

The second is in the book of psalms:

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him" (Psalm 92:12-15).

Let's look at the magnificent promise in Isaiah. In it, God vows to take care of His people when they're old and gray. He also promised to "rescue" His older servants, which means that the old are not exempt from trials and tribulations, or from faith adventures that will require God's intervention and assistance. No matter what, God will still be their refuge and strength.

Then in Psalm 92, God promises that the righteous ones will still bear fruit in their old age, staying "fresh and green." In their later years, they will proclaim God's goodness. This doesn't sound anything like retirement or of being physically unable to perform good works or purposeful deeds.

We saw earlier in this series that "Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone" (Deuteronomy 34:7). It's not necessarily true that the old are also infirm. So if God promises to rescue the old and if they will still bear fruit, it also doesn't sound like they will retire to God's "home for the elderly." They still have purpose and God expects them to produce fruit consistent with their gifts and talents.

So what is your fruit? What is the purpose of your life? You must answers those questions regardless of your age, for God's promises or expectations don't have an expiration date. What's more, since the joy of the Lord is your strength, if you want strength in your latter years, you must be doing the things you love to do, things that give you joy.

As I write, I'm 74 years old. I know I'm not getting out of here alive, but I don't plan on cooperating with the aging process. I want to thrive and not just survive. If the day comes I cannot write, then I'll dictate or draw or do something to declare that "the Lord is upright." I'll travel as long as I can and I'll broadcast the lessons God is teaching me until death prevents me from doing so.

By then, however, I will have left enough behind that, should God choose to use it, my voice will continue to be heard when my days on earth have come to an end. How about you? How do you want to end? Do you want to just survive or do you choose to thrive? Think about it and while you do, I trust you will have a blessed week.

Monday Memo 1167: "I Did It"

If you want a good example of someone growing old in their purpose, then look no further than Joshua, who played a key role in Israel's history and has a book in the Bible named after him:

After a long time had passed and the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man, summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: “I am very old. You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you. Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea in the west" (Joshua 23:1-4).

We're told twice that Joshua was "very old," once by his own admission, but Joshua had not retired. Instead, he was still encouraging and directing the people. But look at something interesting he said in his address: "I allotted your inheritance" and "the nations I conquered." Joshua didn't attribute those two things to the Lord, but saw them as part of his legacy. Some would find it offensive or shocking for someone to claim "I earned this degree" or "I built this company" but in essence that's what Joshua said. He said that he did those things.

It's reminiscent of what Nehemiah prayed at the end of his book:

So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned them duties, each to his own task. I also made provision for contributions of wood at designated times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me with favor, my God" (Nehemiah 13:30-31, emphasis added).

You see, you have choices to make if you're a person of purpose. God isn't going to direct your every step. You'll have to do things that are consistent with who God made you to be if you want God to "remember" you. You'll have to be able to list what you've done if you want to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

I'm a writer. Has God directed me to write all my books? He has for some of them, but for others, I decided to write. If I'm a writer, I should be busy writing, just like a bird should be busy singing. I don't need an engraved invitation from heaven to do so (neither does the bird). What's more, I have no intention of retiring and I don't expect anyone to honor me just because I have "gray hair."

If someone wants to honor me—and it's totally up to them with no expectation from me—then I have to be worthy of honor by having "conquered nations, allotted land, purified the priests, made provision for contributions" like Joshua and Nehemiah did. I have to perform my own mighty deeds.

What are your expectations when you have "gray hair"? What are you doing to leave a purpose legacy? if you are still physically able, are you still performing "good deeds" of your own volition? Can you pray, like Nehemiah, that God will remember you for something? Like what?

You must have a purpose, for you're still here reading this. That means there's still time to make the most of the opportunities for you to do things for God. Don't be passive and wait for things to happen; make things happen and then you can join Joshua, Nehemiah, and hopefully me, in the list of old-age achievers. Have a blessed week.

Monday Memo 1166: Gray Hair

In our series titled 'Never Too Old for Purpose," I include some personal reflections on a passage from the psalms:

I will always put my hope in you; I will praise you more and more. I will tell of your goodness; all day long I will speak of your salvation, though it is more than I can understand. I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will proclaim your goodness, yours alone. You have taught me ever since I was young, and I still tell of your wonderful acts. Now that I am old and my hair is gray, do not abandon me, O God! Be with me while I proclaim your power and might to all generations to come (Psalm 71:14-18, NLT).

As I read this, I'm 74 years old and I'm trying to put myself in the psalmist's place. Here are some thoughts:

1. He declared that he will always hope in God. As people get older, they realize that nothing else "works," at least that's my conclusion. God and His ways are the only reliable things in life.
2. He promised to praise more. I need less sleep and wake up in the night often now. When do, I spend some time praising and thanking God for simple things: health, provision, relationships, grandkids. I take nothing for granted and I go out of my way to praise and thank God.
3. He said he would speak of God's salvation all day long. I'm on social media all day, every day. As I receive something from the Lord, I share it as quickly as I can.
4. He said he could not totally grasp what He was saying. As I get older, I discover that the more I know, the more there is to know. Learning is a lifelong pursuit in the Lord.
5. He went in God's strength. As my physical strength wanes, I increasingly have to rely on God's strength on a daily basis. He has all I need.
6. He promised to only declare God's goodness. When you have lived long, you have more memories and they're not all good. It's easy to get bitter or cynical. I ask God to help me be neither, which means I have to be the opposite—gracious and trusting, childlike even.
7. He asked for God's help as and until he was done proclaiming God's glory to the next generation. My ministry time is increasingly invested in sharing with the young(er) about the lessons God has taught me. And of course, I write and publish so God has something, if He so chooses, to share with those coming after me.

The psalmist stated that he was "old and now gray." When I get a haircut and look on the ground, I wonder where all the gray hair came from until I remind myself that it came from me. I don't know how long I have, so I'm determined to make every day count, just like it seems the psalmist was determined to do.

But as I write, I realize that everything he wrote is as relevant and applicable to people of any age as it is for me. But when you're older, your body reminds you every day that the clock is ticking. The good news is there's plenty of work to do, as the psalmist said, for those who are focused on doing it until they can't do it any longer. Have a blessed week.

Monday Memo 1165: God's Good Pleasure

Here is a one-sentence summary of Moses' condition at the time of his death:

Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; he was as strong as ever, and his eyesight was still good (Deuteronomy 34:7, GNT).

Because he was 120 years old, we may tend to dismiss his age as an aberration, an indication that people lived to be older "back then." But if that's the case, why would the Bible make sure we understood Moses' condition if it was so common then? Let's see if we can find out.

Of course, the most important reason is that God was with Moses and empowered and strengthened him. But what made Moses so special that God would preserve him for so long in the condition described? My bias leads me to conclude that Moses was a man of purpose and God was providing a lesson in the power that resides in living and not just dabbling in God's will for one's life.

Moses understood what his purpose was early in life: "Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not." (Acts 7:25). The people weren't ready to be rescued, however. What's more, God had more work to do in him, so Moses fled to Midian when he lived and worked for forty years (see Acts 7:23). Then we are told, "After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai" (Acts 7:30). So Moses went back to Egypt for 40 years of service until he died at the age of 120.

I'm not insinuating that when you find your purpose, you're guaranteed to live to 120 and will never need glasses. But I am saying that purpose is energizing and gives you a reason to get up in the morning and fill your days with more than mindless television or meaningless recreation. Purposeful people don't buy into the thinking that "I'm old and old people are frail, decrepit, and forgetful." To prove this point, let's look at a purpose hero of the church, John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church movement. Here is Wesley's entry in his diary on his 72nd birthday:

This being my birthday, the first day of my seventy-second year, I was considering, How is this, that I find just the same strength as I did thirty years ago? That my sight is considerably better now and my nerves firmer than they were then? That I have none of the infirmities of old age and have lost several I had in my youth? The grand cause is the good pleasure of God, who doth whatsoever pleaseth him. The chief means are: 1) My constantly rising at four, for about fifty years; 2) My generally preaching at five in the morning, one of the most healthy exercises in the world; 3) My never traveling less, by sea or land, than four thousand five hundred miles in a year.

Now that's the summary of a person of purpose! What is the "good pleasure of God" where your life is concerned? Are you fully involved in it or only dabbling? Is your focus your well-being or that of others? Have you bought into the thinking that old is old and old people are meant to serve out their days while waiting for the end?

God wanted us to know about Moses' condition at his end so we could have faith that life is to be lived to the fullest no matter our age. Take a page from Moses' and Wesley's book and determine to be a person of purpose right up to the end, for the truth is as we've learned in this lesson, you're never too old for purpose. Have a blessed week!

Monday Memo 1164: Run Your Race

No one impacted the early church more than Paul—except for the Lord Jesus. In one of his last letters, Paul wrote Timothy to declare,

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (2 Timothy 4:6-8).

Here are some thoughts to add to this series titled "Never Too Old for Purpose."

1. Paul was being poured out like a drink offering. The drink offering always accompanied another offering and was either poured on the ground or into a fire. Either way, not a trace of the drink offering was left. Paul saw that his life had been given to the Lord's service. He was not doing the pouring, but God was in control, determining where and how Paul's last days would be invested.
2. Paul knew his end was near. Paul had a sense that his departure was imminent. There was not a succession plan to follow for he did not have an official position to delegate. He had known and stated that he had completed his purpose—there was nothing left to do. And no one really could replace the unique calling he had lived and fulfilled.
3. He had fought, finished, and kept. As in other places, Paul used athletic references to indicate how he would describe his purpose journey. He had devoted his life to his God-assigned purpose. It wasn't a hobby and didn't take second place to a career. It was the main act in his life drama and he had played his role to perfection.
4. Paul knew there was a reward in store for him. Paul had worked not for the church or for the church's leaders, but for God. He fully expected his reward to come from his "employer"—God Himself. He knew he wasn't unique or special in that regard, for anyone who "longed for [Jesus'] appearing" would receive the same reward.

Do you know what your purpose is? Are you fulfilling it? Is it a hobby or the main attraction in your life movie? Are you fighting for, running in, and preserving what God has given you to do? The beauty of Paul's life is the clarity he had of his mission and his absolute commitment to it that allowed him to run the race and finish the course. I urge you to be as focused and resolute as Paul was to that when your end is near, you can be as matter-of-fact about your purpose race, declaring yourself the winner by God's grace. Have a blessed week.