THURSDAY
In the irresistible gospel we also find meaning and purpose. We touched on purpose briefly in our origin topic on Monday. In the progressive revelation of Scripture, we find that our purpose is filled in a little more as God continues to reveal truth throughout the centuries. Our big-picture purpose can be described as to know God, love God, live with God and glorify God forever. This is from the New City Catechism and more fully describes humanity’s big-picture purpose.
John 17:24 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
1 Corinthians 10:31 31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Romans 11:36 36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
As Christians we need to keep this big-picture purpose in mind. Our culture roots purpose in a lesser meaning that isn’t fully comprehensive and inevitably leaves out some people, leaving them purposeless. Even as Christians we lose our way when we make a lesser purpose our ultimate purpose. We often live as if our purpose is…
- happiness or joy
- love
- achievement
These are layers in our purpose. These are the layers that we live in, in our day to day. In our day to day we should focus on living with joy. Ultimately, our joy is found in the presence of God, which again points us to our need for our higher, ultimate purpose. Yet joy is a layer to living in our purpose.
We ought to love as well. But, again, this is not our ultimate purpose. Love, if misdirected or misdefined, doesn’t fully satisfy us because we are not living in our ultimate purpose. We are to love God and one another as God has loved us. Without God our love falls short. Yet, in our day to day, there is no better measure to live by. We ought to regularly ask ourselves, “What is the loving thing to do?”
God has also called us to achieve things for him. We have been given a mission to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded us (Matt. 28: 18-20). Yet, our achievements are meant to be accomplished in the will of God and for the glory of God. Again, achievements are great to live in, in our day to day, but we must have the superseding, ultimate purpose in place for us to truly live in our purpose.
Reflection
Reflect on the significance of knowing your ultimate purpose and living in it.
Regularly ask yourself in your day to day:
- Am I living with joy?
- Am I living with mission? Do I know what God has called me to and am I pursuing his will?
- Am I loving God and others?