What motivates us? Is it money? Is it a career? Is it a goal such as having a certain type of house or being able to marry a certain person? Is it a particular lifestyle? Is your goal to go to a certain college, or to move out on your own or to purchase that special new car? Perhaps your motivation is more short-term—getting through the work week or planning a special outing.

Psychologists confine the concept of motivation to those factors that energize behavior and give it direction. A motivated person will engage in an activity more vigorously and more efficiently than an unmotivated one. This motivation tends to direct behavior. That definition seems simple enough—a hungry person will be motivated to find food and satisfy that hunger, for example, but let’s consider the implications on a spiritual level.

We can be motivated for wrong things or proper things. Sometimes the line between the two is thin. We can be motivated to do the right thing and then turn around and betray that motivation. Elijah did amazing and wonderful things in service to God and then for a brief period, he lost his motivation (read the story in 1 Kings 19:1-18). This can happen to any of us. God gives us the Sabbath and Holy Days to be able to renew and strengthen our motivation to serve Him and change our lives.

From a very early age I understood that I was different from my friends at school and in the neighborhood. It wasn’t just that I kept Holy Days they didn’t, or didn’t keep holidays that they did—my motivation was different. Being a part of the Church of God provides us with a vision and a purpose for our physical lives now, but even more importantly, it foreshadows the future that God has in store for us. The Sabbath and Holy Days paint a very clear picture of God’s plan of salvation for all of mankind. That was exciting to me as a kid, and it is exciting to me now. What about you? Does this understanding God has given us, motivate you to do His will?

Understanding God’s plan for the future of humanity should excite us beyond anything this world has to offer. Is that the case? Are we motivated to step up our efforts when we are reminded of that plan on the Sabbath and Holy Days, or are we distracted by the cares and pleasures of this world? Time is short. World events become more and more precarious. We must make an effort now to be grounded in God’s Word, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil,” (Ephesians 5:15-16, NKJV, this and following).

What should motivate us as true Christians who live God's way of life? Christ gives us the answer during His sermon on the mount, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things [our daily needs] shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Our first priority is God’s kingdom, the very message that Christ preached!

God has an exciting future for us all as resurrected God-beings in His family—make sure you are motivated to be there!