Question 1 What is my purpose?

When you get to be my age and realize you have fewer years ahead than behind you to live, you might find yourself asking this question:  

Why am I here and what is my purpose?

While I was thinking about this blog, some slogans from products and bumper stickers were going through my head.  They might just express how some in our society would answer that question.  Like:

• ·       Be all that you can be. . . In other words, maximize your potential, make goals and pursue them!

• ·       Go for the gusto. . . Grab all the good stuff the world offers while you can.

• ·       Have it your way. . .Never mind what everyone else does, or who it might hurt, do things YOUR way

• ·       The one who dies with the most toys wins. . .  So amass stuff – maybe a new car, a boat, a house at the beach, a lucrative financial portfolio, a big bank account, the best clothes, jewelry, whatever. . . . .

• ·       Save money, live better. . .Save money so you can live comfortably when you retire

• ·       Because I’m worth it. . . You are the MOST important person in life, you have all the very best things coming to you!

• ·       The relentless pursuit of perfection. . . Strive to rise to the top in your company, gain the respect of your peers, earn another degree – it’s the only way to feel valuable

Some of those slogans represent worthy goals.  After all, who doesn’t want to maximize their potential, or take good care of their families, or advance their career?  

What if I told you that your whole purpose for living is SO much greater than any of those, even the best of them?  Would you want to hear about it?  Well, here goes:

It all began with the phrase:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  

(Genesis, the Bible, chapters 1 through 3).

The world God began with was formless and empty.  All He did was speak and the power of His word brought all that is into being, out of nothing.

• ·       The heavens and the earth
• ·       The sky and dry land
• ·       Grasses, herbs, fruit trees.
• ·       Sun, moon and stars
• ·       Sea creatures and birds in abundance
• ·       Cattle, creeping things, animals

And then, God made man, the absolute pinnacle of His creative genius.

·       He made man in His image, in His likeness, male and female, and gave them dominion over all the other things He had made.  

·       God formed man out of the dust of the ground and then breathed His own breath into him and gave him life.

Genesis 1, verse 31 tells us that God saw everything that He had made, and declared it, very good.


God planted a garden and put the man in it to tend it. God brought every animal and bird to the man so that he might name them, BUT in all of them there was not a helper comparable to him.


And so, God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and from his rib, God made a woman.  When God brought her to the man, to live together as husband and wife, he reacted with the ancient equivalent of, WOW!!.  


Best of all - Adam and Eve, God’s first man and woman, walked and talked with Him in the garden in a wonderful, intimate, face to face relationship. 


They were both naked and were not ashamed.

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So, you might be asking, how does this answer the question:

Why am I here and what is my purpose?

I’m glad you asked.  Let me suggest some things:


You are here by God’s design. 


In other words, you are not here by random chance, and you are NOT a mistake. 

Your life matters to God more than you can imagine.  He loves you more than you can imagine, even if you feel no one else ever has, God has, because He made you and knows you.  And that gives your life, and every life, honor and value and purpose.  Every life is precious to God.


God formed you while you were in your mother’s womb.  He saw you though you were yet unformed.  Even the days of your life here on earth have been written in God’s book, every one is important to Him.  He declares that YOU have been “fearfully and wonderfully” made.  (Psalm 139)


God made you for relationship with Himself.


God made Adam and Eve and placed them in the garden He had made for them, to work it and bring forth fruit, but then He didn’t just leave them to it.  He met them there.  He walked with them and talked with them in a face to face relationship (see Genesis 3, verse 8).


Imagine!  This great God who had brought all things into being with the sound of His voice, actually wanted a relationship with this man and this woman, these creatures He had created, and into which He had breathed His own breath.


You know, that hasn’t changed.  God made you for a relationship with Himself – something nothing else in all His earthly creation is capable of.  He wants a relationship with you, and me.  That is the purpose for which you have been made – to know God – to live in relationship with Him every day, from now throughout eternity. 


If this was God’s purpose, you might ask, then how is it we end up living our lives in pursuit of so many lesser things?   

What went wrong, you ask?  Good question.  


As a matter of fact, it’s a question for another blog.  Watch for it! ________________________________________________________________

In the meantime, think about this:


What is YOUR purpose?  What are YOU living for?  Will what you live for outlast you, or is it just for today?  How’s it working for you?