Today marks the unofficial beginning of spring, where we turn our clocks ahead and begin to enjoy days with more light. Of course, enjoying this time is easier once we make up for the hour of sleep we lost!

I can already feel my mood lifting as I anticipate the beginning of my favorite seasons of spring and summer.  As I thought about this concept of springing forward into new things, it reminded me of the many stories of Jesus’ disciples and how they became His followers. 

For example, Peter and Andrew were out fishing one day, heard Jesus preaching and when Jesus said, “Follow me,” they hopped out of the boat, leaving their profession behind, and became part of His inner circle.

Matthew, a tax collector, despised by the multitudes also left his tax collecting business to answer the same call from Jesus. Every one of Jesus’ disciples was willing to leave their past behind and “spring forward” with Him.

Even Jesus Himself, after having been baptized by John the Baptist, sprang into His three plus year ministry, never wasting a moment. He knew what He was sent to do, and He spent His time “doing His Father’s business” (Luke 2:49). 

Specifically, His life was the fulfillment of the prophecy in the book of Isaiah, which He announced publicly in the gospel of Luke:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19 NKJV)

Want to know why Jesus left His heavenly throne to become man here on earth? Well, it’s all here in these verses. And why did He do this? Simple. He loved us so much that He wanted everyone to enjoy a blessed life here followed by an eternity in heaven (John 3:16).

You see, Jesus knew He only had a short time to make a big (and eternal!) impact. So, He wasted no time. If you read the many stories in the New Testament about His life, there is page after page of Him traveling from town to town doing exactly what He was called to do. 

In fact, the Bible even tells us that He did so many more miracles that all the books of the world could not contain them (John 21:25). What can we learn from His example of living a purpose driven life? 

First, we must determine what God’s purpose for our life is. Then, we take steps to walk it out. Many of those steps will require a fair amount of faith but just like Jesus knew He had the full support of His Father, so do we. (Isaiah 41:10).

How do we know what God’s purpose is? Well, we can start by ascertaining what our natural

 giftings and talents are. Next, we can pray and ask God how He wants us to use them and for who we are to use them. 

These answers may not come overnight. They may not come in a season, but they will come because it is God’s will that we fulfill His purpose for our lives. 

This week, I’d like to encourage you to spend some time in reflection and prayer so that like Jesus and His followers, you can spring forward to fulfill your purpose.