What is AMBITION?
What is your ambition in life?
To hit the target? To leave a mark? Just get by? To make it through another day? To create… something… a piece of art, a business, being a service to your community?
Def. Merriam-Webster online… ambition is
1. an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power; (a) desire to achieve a particular end;
2. the object of ambition
3. a desire for activity or exertion (I have no ambition to clean the house today)
Ambition Has Roots in Roman Politics
When candidates for public office in ancient Rome wanted to be elected, they had to do just what modern candidates must do. They had to spend most of their time going around the city urging the citizens to vote for them. (or buy their book)
The Latin word for this effort was ambitio, which came from ambire, a verb meaning “to go around.” Since this activity was caused by a desire for honor or power, the word eventually came to mean “the desire for honor or power.”
This word came into French and English as ambition in the late Middle Ages.
Later its meaning broadened to include “an admirable desire for advancement or improvement” and still later “the object of this desire.”
Strongs Greek concordance
Original Word: ἐριθεία, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: eritheia
Phonetic Spelling: (er-ith-i’-ah)
Definition: rivalry, ambition
Usage: (the seeking of followers and adherents by means of gifts, the seeking of followers, hence) ambition, rivalry, self-seeking; a feud, faction.
ONLINE ETYMOLOGY DICTIONARY
https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=ambition
(from PIE root *ambhi- “around”) + ire “go” (from PIE root *ei- “to go”)
It forms all or part of: abaft; about; alley (n.1) “open passage between buildings;” ambagious; ambassador; ambi-; ambidexterity; ambidextrous; ambience; ambient; ambiguous; ambit; ambition;
Gods Word –New International Version
“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” ~ 2 Corinthians 5:20 NIV
“Making his appeal,” has the sense of… going around… to go around… engaging with others.
The Bible/God also warns us of “selfish-ambition and vain-conceit.”
My thoughts go to The Prayer of Jabez. 1 Chronicles 4:10 and his ambitions…
“Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!’ And God granted what he asked”
(quite the ambitious prayer, my request would be for ME TO NOT BE THE CAUSE OF PAIN to others)
God is seeking sons and daughters, those who would follow after him, in his footsteps as it were, and then “going out into all the world,” in order to do that we need to look at our ambition(s) and determine if it is a selfish-ambition (an ardent desire for personal rank, fame, or power;) or Spirit inspired ambition ((a) desire to achieve a particular end.) Then we need to look at our actions and determine, “are we going forth” like an ambassador… or are we hiding our light under a bushel basket?
What is your AMBITION, the AMBASSADORSHIP, of your life?
What are you GOING AROUND actually doing?
Now I’m not trying to make you feel bad, I just want you to be aware of where God has you today. If you are a new parent, running your own business, or working your 9-5… it might ‘feel’ like you could be doing something else… something more… but, and this is a BIG BUT… the thing he has you doing right now requires your utmost attention and focus.
It has been my experience when I focus on my immediate responsibility then He ‘enlarges my border.’
I wasn’t aware of this earlier in my life… I would feel hemmed in by my responsibilities… and just helping my neighbor lady next door wasn’t enough.
As I’ve grown, and as my children have grown, I have had the time to stop and think and reflect, and God has taught me that, “Yes, it was I who restrained you.” (Sadly, I didn’t always listen.)
Knowing the responsibility right in front of you, owning that responsibility, executing those actions that allow you to take care of that responsibility… is like proper weight training reps for your heart and mind.
We feel ‘weighed down by the anxieties of life’ because we are not strong enough to carry an extra load that God has not intended for us to pick up. We fail to recognize that he has already sent us forth and placed us right where he needs us to be, today… we need to go forth today and change that diaper, have that business meeting, grab a Starbucks on the way to that 9 to 5… being an ambassador to your world, your circle of friends, co-workers and family, including your neighbor and your Starbucks server.
That’s a lot of people right there.
Hmmm, you lost me a bit in the transition from the definition (went on a bit long and then seemed to take a turn) to the point impact conclusion of what I was supposed to takeaway…
Might just be me, I lost your voice partway thru this one.
Yeah, I thought that might happen, the original was a little shorter, I was going to try to be more concise, my notes and research were very, very long… I tried to find a middle ground that worked. Was trying to take some advice from Charles Spurgeon on writing in general. Thank you for confirming the same feeling that I had.