(Note to the reader: it is a guide to a 40-day spiritual journey. The aim is that we may know better God’s purpose for our life. Thank God for our friend Rick Warren for his inspirational book entitled “The purpose-Driven Life”. Not forgetting the ‘Team Belia Keuskupan Keningau/Kota Kinabalu/Sandakan, Sabah Malaysia’.)
What on earth am I here for?
A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump;
a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree (Proverbs 11:28)
Blessed are those who trust in the Lord…
They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with
roots that each deep into the water. Such trees
are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit (Jeremiah 17:7-8)
For everything, absolutely everything,
Above and below, visible and invisible…
Everything got started in him and finds it purpose in him ( Colossian 1:6)
Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless
Bertrand Russel, atheist.
It all started with God
It is not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, peace of mind, or even happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.
The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That’s because we typically begin at the wrong starting point-ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose. The bible says, “It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone’s life is in his power.”
Contrary to what many popular books, movies, and seminars tell you, you won’t discover your life’s meaning by looking within yourself. You’ve probably tried that already. You didn’t create yourselves, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for! If I handed you an invention you had never seen before, you wouldn’t know its purpose, and the invention itself wouldn’t be able to tell you either. Only the creator or the owner’s manual could reveal its purpose.
It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. You were made for God, not vice versa, and life is about letting God use you for his purposes, not your using him for your own purpose.
What matter most is about becoming what God created you to be. What is the meaning of life? Ask God. God is the starting point of your life, he is the source of it. To discover your purpose in life you must turn to God’s word. “It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for” (Ephesians 1:11). 3 points to remember:
A. You can discover your identity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
B. God was thinking of you long before you ever thought about him.
C. God has designed you for eternity.
Thinking about my purpose, it is not about me.
Question to consider: How can I remind myself that life is really about living for God, not myself?
Verse to remember: “Everything got started in him
And finds its purpose in him” Colossians 1: 16b
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