Subscription Lists

I can remember a time or two when I have tried to use the wrong tool for a job around the house. For instance I specifically remember at least two instances when I was using a screwdriver when I should have had a hammer. In both cases I ended up whacking the finger that was doing the holding. I guess I could have gotten the hammer but for whatever reason I was ill-equipped to complete the job because of the wrong tool. Not that the screwdriver was without worth, it just did not serve my purpose. I have chosen to write about purpose because I believe it to be the single-most area of struggle for many individuals today. Think about all the individuals that you know that are wandering throughout life without purpose. It may be a close friend or relative. Whomever, if you speak with them for a while you realize just how empty they feel because they do not have purpose. I think all of us at some point will realize that we are on Earth for a reason. We are here for a reason that is beyond just our daily routine. Finding purpose in life involves first being connected to the giver of all life—God. He has purpose for your life that was given before you were conceived. (see Ephesians 1:11) Why wouldn’t your discovery of purpose start with Him? What are some of the things that connect you to others? As you make this list mentally or otherwise look at how that list involves more than just yourself. (Clue: It should involve more than just you!) Does it involve people you care for? Do you find joy in any of the activities that connect you to these individuals? These are questions that will get you on the path to finding purpose in life. Our model for this discussion is Jesus Christ. No one single individual walked the Earth with a higher call in life and carried that mission out perfectly so that is why he is our focus. In understanding his purpose he turned his focus to outward displays of love. This is my first point about a person that has found purpose. They understand that it isn’t all about them. There are not any scriptures that talk about how Jesus spent time worrying about his carpentry business. Or how he wondered if anyone understood his Sermon on the mount. Or whether the crowd preferred trout or salmon when he fed the multitudes. We do not read of how he allowed his focus to be inward. His focus was outward. Jesus is an example of a servant—not a slave. He willingly gave all he had. Unlike a slave that is forced into labor for pay or not, a servant willingly gives his or her labor. Jesus laid down his pride and put ego aside to heal, deliver, comfort, pray for, cry with and die for a world that did not even appreciate his sacrifice. He did all this because he realized that in order for God to have relationship with man again that a perfect sacrifice would have to be made. He willingly went to the cross to be that sacrifice. That was his purpose—to reconcile the relationship between man and God. And thanks be to God, he did not let anything stand in his way.

"'Winging It" from Stan Smith

Washed by the Water of the Word