Significance

I'm nearly finished with a book I have fallen in love with. It's titled "50 people every Christian should know." It is a book written by Warren Wiersbe and contains 50 mini-biographies of key people in church history. I am enthralled by this book...it has me thinking. Did any of these people live their lives with the intent of being significant? Did any of them think, "You know, if I do this people will remember who I was?" I don't get that thought from the stories of their lives. I see men and women who are simply living in their time, in the place God has placed them, being what God designed them to be. It's that being what God designed us to be that brought significance...they didn't get it by pursuing it, but by simply living their lives for God. One common thread I see with all these different lives is that no matter where they lived, when they lived, how much money they had or what opportunities they were given, the common thread is this- they sought to live for God. Even from a nothing beginning many of these men and women rose to significance in time and history because of their quest for God. They sought God and God took care of the rest. God gave them a platform, a place, influence and significance. God did the rest when they simply sought to be what HE designed them to be. So often I see people around me looking for a short-cut to significance. There is no short-cut. The only way to make a difference is to be a man or woman in pursuit of God and from that relationship God will take care of the rest. This passion in our time and culture for significance is misdirected. Leaving a mark in our time and in history only comes as we seek to know and walk with God. He will take care of the rest.