God did not just save us from something. He saved us for something. The good news of Jesus does not stop the moment we get saved. Our salvation is only the beginning of God’s work in our lives.

Just yesterday, as I strapped on my daughter’s sparkly gold jelly shoes to embark on our regularly scheduled afternoon trek around our neighborhood, I was reminded of this profound truth. Standing up, she instinctively and immediately shot up her tiny arm to tightly grasp my thumb. In this precious moment of knowing that she was looking to me as her father to protect her from something on our walk…a thought came rushing to my mind: “my daughter was not only given to me to keep her from something but to help prepare her for something.”

God has charged me to keep my child from harm – that is vitally important – yet in the same breath God has also charged me to prepare, to teach, to train her for something:

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

I am convinced of this: you and I will always remain in stagnant and pungent waters when we fail to realize that God not only saved us from something, but that He saved us for something. By saving you from your sins, God has graciously invited you to join Him, to live on mission – to be a disciple of Jesus who makes disciples of Jesus!

Are you stagnant in your faith?

Examine your own heart or ask a friend to honestly speak into your life by asking the following: “Am I bearing fruit in my life?” (John 15:5)  “Do you see evidences of God’s Spirit in your life?” (Galatians 5:22-23)

If not, you may be failing to recognize that God has not only saved you from something but that God has saved you for something.