Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us at the next Sunday worship service:
In-Person
9:00am & 10:45am,
Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

God’s Purpose For Us

“Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope…You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense.” – Rick Warren.

Living a life without purpose can be incredibly frustrating. You’re talking to your next-door neighbor or to a person in your small group and you realize that the person you are talking to is living a passionate, engaged, meaningful life. You see it in their relationships, in their jobs, and their sense of direction that compels them to hop out of bed each morning with a spring in their step while you keep hitting the snooze button. 

The Bible is chock full of passages about living a life filled with joy. The Bible does not promise you that every single day you will be given the key to the city. It does mean that an overall sense of joy should permeate your life regardless of your present circumstances.  Psalm 138:8 (ESV) says: “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” 

Jesus is the perfect example of purpose. In Mark 1, Jesus begins His ministry; He casts out an evil spirit (Mark 1:21-28), healed Simon’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:30-31), and many people who were sick with various diseases (Mark 1:34). The Bible then tells us that “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.” So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons.” (Mark 1:35-39)

Jesus was the talk of the town. Everyone wanted His miraculous touch. But Jesus, having spent the morning in prayer, tells the people looking for Him it was time to move on to the next town because preaching the gospel was why He came out. Healing people was a good thing. However, the priority of Jesus was to preach the gospel and He needed to go where the people were. We see this throughout the Gospels. Whenever His presence in a town was dominated by His miracles, Jesus would move on to the next town so He could get back to His purpose. I’m sure some people were disappointed He did not stay longer and heal more people, but Jesus was focused on the work of His Father.

We get a glimpse of the all-encompassing purpose of God in these verses: “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we … might be for the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:11-12 NIV)

Each one of us should periodically pause and evaluate what we are doing and why. Work. Personal goals. Church responsibilities. All of those are good things, but do they conflict with our God-given purpose. We need to have the strength to say no to anything that does not align with our God-given purpose and priorities.

 

Discussion Questions:

  1. How is it possible to know what God is trying to do in you?
  2. What can we do this week to get in step with what God is trying to do in our lives?

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