One of the important questions related to discovering who God created us to be has to do with what we spend our life pursuing. For many, the chief pursuit of life is the acquisition of things and the pursuit of things to bring pleasure. To address this hedonistic principle of humanity, Solomon wrote and said, “A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree” (The Message Proverbs 11:28).
People who are devoted to things often are people who do not really know who they are and acquiesce to a life in search of identity and importance by defining existence by the things that surround them.
A great discovery to make about existence is that it is not about you. Focusing on things or ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose. The reality is that you were made by God and for God—and until you understand that, life will never make sense.
Affirmation of Faith
Our affirmation of faith from the scripture resonates with me an important message that needs to be understood, even after having read it multiple times: that “It’s purpose is not about you.” The reason for this truth is that this truth never loses its importance because it is timeless truth.
This assertion is hardly new in the history of Christian faith. The reason for our existence is as old as Wesley who said, “God made us to be happy in Him.” In Baptist history, it is as old as the Westminster Catechism which affirms that “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” Furthermore, in Jewish history, it is as old as David who said, “It is He that hath made us and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” It is as old as Moses who said, “So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” What do these examples have in common? The central theme is reverence and life of worship that brings an understanding of why we exist. Life and more particularly, my life is not about me. The affirmations and history are spiritual markers that reveal that all of life is about God, not about finding ourselves.
APPLICATION OF FAITH
Our origin, identity, meaning, purpose, destiny all originate and are completed in relationship to God. As a result, I cannot help but think embracing life with this perspective would revolutionize everything that we do in life and the choices we make. I can remember the frustration of many people who have shared their never-ending search to find what they want to do in life. Obviously, this common mistake is the wrong approach to life because it reduces why we exist to a simple human endeavor to do something in our own power to create an identity and a purpose to feel significance in life.
The place to begin is that understanding why we exist will only find significance when we gain the insight that identity and purpose are found only through relationship with Jesus Christ. Anything else will leave us to the task of creating a purpose that is simply the natural part of a human life apart from God. When God reveals to us and we understand in our heart of hearts that God planned the purpose of our life and intends for it to last into eternity. Then, our lives and purpose for existence aligns with the eternal plan of God and has the potential to be effective and produce lasting fruit now and in the future. When we realize that, we will find that we understand existence from God’s perspective and we have found something worth living for and someone worth dying with because it is eternal.
Final thoughts
Some of you upon reading this may get the idea that determining your life purpose has nothing to do with you or the choices you make. Obviously, that is not the case, because what happens in our life depends upon responding to God and reverencing Him in worship through obedience The problem exists that we start with us and what we want; then we tell God what we’ll do. To understand why we exist, God wants us to start with Him—His Kingdom, His Will—and then ask how we can use the gifts and abilities He has given us to participate in His plan.
Related articles
- Secret to Success – A Devotion (lthomason.wordpress.com)
- 2013, Time to Arise and build the ruined house of the Lord (franschhoekimpact.wordpress.com)
- Out With the Old…… (deenaroseministries.wordpress.com)
- Yule Blog 2012-2013: Personal Meaning (blogs.the-american-interest.com)
- The True God (raymondjclements.wordpress.com)
