I will be careful to lead a blameless life

I will set before my eyes no vile thing

I will not have anything to do with evil

Psalms 101:2-4, NIV(1978 version)

Mission statements have become a big thing in recent years for business. Of course, the main focus for all for-profit businesses is to maximize shareholder wealth (make as much money as you can) but in modern times that has not been sufficient. Large corporations now feel that they need something more to lure investors, as well as to accomplish goals that are outside the incentive of wealth, so they have added things like being environmentally friendly and helping the needy. These are certainly worthwhile pursuits and give businesses a focus that goes beyond just making a profit. While some organizations have mission statements that are merely tools for creating more demand for their company shares, most mission statements are an attempt to reflect the idea that business has a duty to do more than simply seek profit at all costs. In other words, they help the business to be a better "citizen" if you will.

While mission statements for business are a relatively new phenomena, the idea has been around for thousands of years. Many of the righteous men and women of Bible times had statements of their own that would indicate their desire to do more than just live and make money while they were here on earth. In other words, they saw the big picture and tried to do their best to do more than just live for selfish purposes while they were here on earth.

King David is a perfect example of such a person. So impressive was he when he was just a youth, that God recognized him as a man after His own heart and decided to make him king. The passage above is but one example of David's desire to do something more than just live for himself - he was determined to live for God to the utmost of his ability. Just looking at these three short lines from the 101st Psalm and you can see that David wanted to excel for God. Furthermore, this desire was so important that he put it down in writing. It is a mission statement in its own right, but it is so much more impressive that the "social conscience" type of focus you see for so many businesses in their mission statements. 

David literally wanted to be perfect for God!

Just look at the individual elements of the statement above: "I will be careful to lead a blameless life." Some versions translate the word blameless as "perfect". Some of us would be content with just not sinning so much, but David set the standard we need to be looking for: he was trying to be blameless! He knew he could never be perfect on his own, but this was still his goal. Like the marksman who practices target shooting every day, David was aiming for the bullseye every single time. And while we read of failures in his life, one has to admit that he was a lot more successful at hitting the center of the target than most, because he was aiming for it more than most.

It was his daily mission!

As one who had notably stumbled in the case of Bathsheba, he was determined to "set before his eyes no vile thing". Would that help you in your daily walk? Would it help you in areas such as "surfing the internet" or "flipping through" the channels and screens on your television and cell phone? This was but one more thing that David was determined to do on a daily basis. It had a way of keeping his heart pure and such a standard will help us as well. 

Finally, David caps off his mission statement with "I will have nothing to do with evil". Just think how much trouble that kept him out of and imagine how much freer from trouble your own life would be if this was your daily goal. In modern times, most people have ceased to even recognize that there is such a thing as evil; but we can be sure of this: It is lurking behind every corner and is coming boldly into the open more and more. Our lives and our families are falling apart because of our lack of recognition of evil. This decline has spilled over into the Lord's church and into our society at large, creating a continual decay that is becoming more consequential each day.

But it does not have to be that way! If we could adopt these three simple components of King David's "mission statement" and make them a regular part of our daily lives, it would completely change the course of our lives. And when the course of an individual's life is changed, it has a way of improving everything from their family to the church to the nation. I for one believe that we could use such a change, and I am determined to do my best to live with a similar mission statement of my own. I recently wrote this passage down and carry it with me and have already found it to have tremendous benefits. Do you think that such an adoption of David's inspired "mission statement" would help you in your daily life? Don't you think that it might be worth finding out?