US columnist CAROL ROUND, in an article published by ASSIST News Service, reflects on the importance of purpose in our lives…
Grove, Oklahoma, US
Via ASSIST News Service
What’s dictating your direction? PICTURE: Jamie Street/Unsplash
“…for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose” – Philippians 2:13 (NIV).
A recent devotional I received from Dr David Jeremiah via email was titled Cross Purposes. He cited an October, 2021, editorial in The Economic Times titled ‘Life Has No Purpose’.
Quoting the writer, Dr Jeremiah shared the following: “The most significant thing to remember is that life is not a business. It does not exist for any particular end. It exists for the sheer joy of existing. There is no goal as such.”
“If you’ve ever wondered ‘Why am I even here?’ or ‘What is my purpose in life?’, you’re not alone. Did you know that one of the most important discoveries you can ever make is realising you were made for God?”
Dr Jeremiah added, “The writer blasted the concept of purposefulness, saying life is supposed to be nothing but sheer joy, playfulness, fun. It’s not to fulfill some purpose, just to be fulfilling within itself.”
I know people, including some relatives, who live life as if it were one big party. They’re not completely selfish, but they have no intention of surrendering their life to God’s purpose. As Dr Jeremiah adds, “That’s a fair description of how much of the world lives.”
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Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
I Peter 2:9 better describes our purpose for being here. “But you are not like that, for you have been chosen by God Himself – you are priests of the King, you are holy and pure, you are God’s very own – all this so that you may show to others how God called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.”
If you’ve ever wondered “Why am I even here?” or “What is my purpose in life?”, you’re not alone. Did you know that one of the most important discoveries you can ever make is realising you were made for God?
Scriptures even tell us that man was the very crown of God’s creation. God didn’t need us. He wasn’t lonely, in need of companionship. He didn’t need our help. Then why did He create man?
God created us for His glory. And we can only find fulfillment in life when our life is aligned with His purpose. It is only then that our lives have true meaning. Maybe that’s why there are so many people in this world who are lost. They drift from one thing to another, one place to another, always seeking fulfillment.
It’s like chasing the wind. We’ll never catch it because it’s always just out of reach.
But God is within our reach. It’s in His Son, Jesus Christ, that we find out who we are and what we’re living for. To glorify God because He created us and gave us life.
In this fallen world, we’re called to make God known to others (Isaiah 43:7; Matthew 28:18–19). Instead of chasing worldly things, set your sights on choosing the joy that comes from living a life on purpose.
