What is your life mission? If you could write a one-line mission statement for your life, how would it read? Jesus gave us a one-line mission statement for his ministry on earth. When we are incorporated into his life, do we then adopt the same mission for ours?

Here’s another question: Who reached you? The good Sunday School answer is the Holy Spirit. But don’t give the easy answer. Think about it.

Let me put it another way: through whom did the Holy Spirit work to reach you? I can give you several names from my past, but there is one in particular who stands out. Gary Wilmer was my Young Life leader. Through Gary’s reaching (which was as simple as taking an interest in me and my life at the age of 14) he reproduced his life of following Jesus in me. He might not remember it that way, but I am looking him up as I write this post so that I can send him a letter in which I will thank him (I’ve had no communication with Gary in over 15 years).

Is there someone you can thank who, motivated by Jesus’ life mission, reached and reproduced in you? Who can you reach to keep the reproduction in process? (I have to warn here not to pick someone as a “project.” Allow God to do the heavy lifting of soul-changing. Just be present, care, invest, listen, pray, and wait for the leading of the Spirit.)

One of my favorite “get-hype-before-preaching-like-basketball-players-on-the-bus-enroute-to-the-arena” worship songs inspires me to keep reaching. This song spread through the student ministry I led back in the day and the students nicknamed the lead singer “Asian Jesus,” but his name is actually Aaron. According to Citipointe Live’s website, “Aaron’s heart is to see the Church devoted to God’s heart in Spirit and Truth and care about what God cares for – the lost, the broken, and the hurting of this world.” Sounds like reaching is a big deal to Aaron. I’m glad it was, and continues to be, for Gary as well.