Find Your Purpose in Life
Introduction
‘What a waste!’ said a woman to my friend. This woman was talking about Bishop Sandy Millar, who had practised very successfully as a lawyer for ten years, before leaving it all behind to become an ordained minister in the church.
‘A waste?’ exclaimed my outraged friend. ‘Yes,’ said the woman, ‘Such a waste! He could have made a fortune and been at the very top of the legal profession. Think of what he could have achieved!’
‘Think of what he has achieved!’ replied my friend – who was thinking of the impact of Sandy’s ministry on thousands of people around the world whose lives had been changed, marriages enriched and churches renewed; those who found faith, love, hope and peace through encountering Jesus Christ as a result of Sandy’s ministry.
Many have given up a successful career, a high salary and – in the eyes of the world – all their prospects, in order to serve God in ‘full-time ministry’ with little or no pay. They know that theirs is a high calling and purpose that far exceeds what the world can promise them.
Of course, those called to serve God in their secular places of work have an equally high purpose and calling, if they are doing what they are doing in order to please God and for the sake of his kingdom. The key is not the job or career – but the goal you pursue.
So many people waste their lives. They have no purpose, meaning or goal. Other people do have a goal, but it is the wrong one. They end up chasing something that is ultimately meaningless. Many reach the top of the ladder of success only to find that it is leaning against the wrong wall. Purpose in life is far more important than property or possessions. Having more to live with is no substitute for having more to live for.
It has been said that ‘the two greatest days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why’. God created you with a purpose in mind (2 Corinthians 5:5).
Proverbs 21:17–26
17 Whoever loves pleasure will become poor;
whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich.
21 Whoever pursues righteousness and love
finds life, prosperity and honour.
25 The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him,
because his hands refuse to work.
26 All day long he craves for more,
but the righteous give without sparing.
Commentary
Pursue righteousness and love
Many people today lead hedonistic lives. ‘Hedonism’ is the pursuit of pleasure as the ultimate goal. Hedonists become addicted to the things that give them pleasure.
‘You’re addicted to thrills? What an empty life! The pursuit of pleasure is never satisfied’ (v.17, MSG).
There is nothing wrong with pleasure (also, there is nothing wrong with saving): ‘In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil’ (v.20). But relationships are far more important than riches: ‘Better to live in a tent in the wild than with a cross and petulant spouse’ (v.19, MSG).
The purpose and goal of your life should never revolve around material things. Rather, ‘Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honour’ (v.21). Make this the aim of your life – to pursue a right relationship with God and a right relationship with others.
Love should be your aim: ‘Sinners are always wanting what they don’t have; the God-loyal are always giving what they do have’ (v.26, MSG).
The irony is that those who pursue righteousness and love find what the hedonist is seeking: ‘life, prosperity and honour’ (v.21b). But these are by-products. They should not be your aim or purpose. Rather it should be God’s kingdom and his righteousness. Jesus promises ‘all these things will be given to you as well’ (Matthew 6:33).
Prayer
Lord, help me not to waste my life in pleasure-seeking but to seek your kingdom – to pursue righteousness and love in everything I do.
2 Corinthians 5:1–10
Awaiting the New Body
5 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Commentary
Aim to please God
Paul’s main aim and purpose in life was to please God: ‘Pleasing God is the main thing, and that’s what we aim to do, regardless of our conditions’ (v.9, MSG).
We may face physical challenges. Your physical body will not always be able to do what you used to do. One day ‘these bodies of ours’ will be ‘taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven’ (vv.1–2, MSG).
When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you are promised all the blessings of the kingdom of God. Yet we still feel weak and sinful, still experience hardship and frustration, and still live in a broken world. How much of the blessing of the kingdom must you wait for in the future, or on the last day, and how much do you experience here and now in the present?
There is a balance between what you will experience in the future and what you experience now. Now, you are ‘away from the Lord. You live by faith, not by sight’ (vv.6–7). In the future, you will be ‘at home with the Lord’ (v.8). What is mortal will be ‘swallowed up by life’ (v.4). You will not experience the full blessing of the kingdom yet.
Nevertheless now, in the present, you experience a foretaste of the future. God ‘has made us for this very purpose’ and has given us his Spirit as a ‘deposit, guaranteeing what is to come’ (v.5). ‘He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less’ (v.5b, MSG). That deposit is not just an assurance – it is a piece of the not yet of God’s blessing, reign and rule in the now. That is what the Holy Spirit brings.
‘That’s why we live with such good cheer… Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead’ (v.6, MSG).
While we wait, ‘We make it our goal to please him’ (v.9). ‘Sooner or later… We will appear before Christ and take what’s coming to us as a result of our actions, either good or bad’ (v.10, MSG).
Prayer
Lord, help me to make this goal the focus of my life. Lord, I want to please you in everything I do, say and think.
Micah 6:8
8 And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Commentary
Rise to Micah’s challenge
It is possible to have a wasted soul. Through the prophet Micah, God warns against:
‘Obscene wealth…
piled up by cheating and fraud…
shady deals and shifty scheming…
No matter how much you get, it will never be enough –
hollow stomachs, empty hearts.
No matter how hard you work, you’ll have nothing to show for it –
bankrupt lives, wasted souls’ (6:10–14, MSG).
At times, Micah looks forward (for example, see 7:7–20). At one point he unknowingly prophesies about Jesus (Matthew 2:5–12). He sees a ruler coming from Bethlehem, ‘Whose origins are from of old, from ancient times… And he will be their peace’ (Micah 5:2,5a). He will be known as ‘Peacemaker of the world!’ (v.4b, MSG).
At other times, Micah looks back. He looks at all that God has done for his people (see 6:3 onwards). He redeemed them. He led them (v.4). He urged them to ‘remember’ (v.5).
God is a God of astonishing love and mercy: ‘Mercy is your specialty. That’s what you love most. And compassion is on its way to us. You’ll stamp out our wrongdoing. You’ll sink our sins to the bottom of the ocean’ (7:18–19, MSG).
Through Jesus your past is totally forgiven. Don’t keep looking back with regret. God has ‘hurled all [your] iniquities into the depths of the sea’ (v.19), and there is ‘no fishing’ allowed.
What will your response be to this amazing grace? Micah presents this challenge: ‘To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’ (6:8c). This threefold challenge gives us the purpose and goal of our lives.
Act justly
Justice is very high up on God’s agenda. Injustice causes so much of the world’s suffering today. I have to make this a higher priority in my own life and in our community. We must do more to see that the poor, the marginalised and the voiceless receive justice.Love mercy
God has shown us such mercy. Our response should be to show mercy. Don’t put pressure on others to perform perfectly; love and accept them for who they are. We need to bring the message of the gospel of God’s love and mercy to as many as possible, including the prisoners, the homeless, the elderly and the poor.Walk humbly with God
Never see yourself as better, above, or more important than other people. A proud person overestimates their own importance. They cannot laugh at themselves. ‘Don’t take yourself too seriously – take God seriously’ (v.8c, MSG). We cannot do any of this unless we are walking in a relationship with the Lord.These three go together. True faith is evidenced by how you live. This is why Paul writes that ‘the things done while in the body’ (2 Corinthians 5:10) really matter. You will be judged by them. They are the evidence of your faith.
Prayer
Lord, help me to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with you.
Pippa adds
In 2 Corinthians 5:10 it says:
‘We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive what is due them for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.’
In the light of that, I am so glad to read in Micah that God delights to show mercy and he says, ‘Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression… you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea’ (Micah 7:18–19).
Thought for the Day
Purpose in life is far more important than property or possessions. Having more to live with is no substitute for having more to live for.
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References
The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel (commentary formerly known as Bible in One Year) ©Alpha International 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Compilation of daily Bible readings © Hodder & Stoughton Limited 1988. Published by Hodder & Stoughton Limited as the Bible in One Year.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.