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• Read What is my Purpose in Life? – Part 1

Jesus states our purpose for us in a book of the Bible called Matthew. In Matthew 22 Jesus unveils that purpose. He states our purpose with crystal clarity. He says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” He then goes on to say, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” With these words Jesus directs us to live for God and for others! It may not be what you were expecting—but it’s true nonetheless.

A life of amazing adventure

Do you want contentment in your life? Then discover or rediscover God by getting to know him and love him personally through the good news of the Bible. Be strengthened through his grace, found only in his Word of life—the Bible. Safeguard your soul as it yearns for the one who loves you more than you can imagine—Jesus. Use your mind to seek out ways to serve God and to serve others. Living with God’s purpose as your reason for living is living a life of amazing adventure!

William Shedd, an American theologian in the 1800s, once wrote, “A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” Every human being has a deep inner longing for meaning, significance, and purpose. For some, these three may be distinct, but even if distinct, they are inextricably tied together:

• What is the meaning of life?
• Am I significant?
• What, if any, should be my purpose?

The answers to questions of meaning, significance, and purpose are found in the all-sufficient Creator God. And he has made us different to one another. Consider this word: personality—God has wired us all differently. Look at a crowd of people—some are extroverts. The more they’re around people, the more they come alive. Some of us are introverts. We look for the corner of the room. We look for friends that we can hang around. We don’t want to talk to strangers.

Some of us are thinkers. Some of us are very intuitive. Some of us are structured. Some of us are spontaneous. God has wired your personality specifically for what he wants to accomplish through you. You’re not wired by accident. God can use your personality to do exactly what he wants to do through you.

If you want to find out why something was created, then you must consult the maker of the thing, not the thing. The thing doesn’t possess the capacity to understand or know the thoughts of its maker on its own. So, in order to find out why man was created, his creator is the one to turn to, not to man himself.

A purpose-driven life

Many books have been written that correctly recognise that the basis for personal purpose is found in God. The highly acclaimed book The Purpose Driven Life by author and pastor Rick Warren has been called a “groundbreaking manifesto on the meaning of life.” We read in the opening chapter, “You must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.”

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As Warren states, “It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead-end.” Rick Warren’s book sold millions of copies worldwide because people are looking for answers.

A relationship with God is the only thing that will quench our soul’s longing.

What I am saying this morning is this: A relationship with God is the only thing that will quench our soul’s longing. Jesus Christ said (John 6:35 – NIV), “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Until we come to know God, we are hungry and thirsty in life. We try to ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ all kinds of things to satisfy our hunger and thirst, but yet they remain. I am talking more than just literal food and water.

We are like the hammer. We don’t realise what will end the emptiness, the lack of fulfilment, in our lives. Even in the midst of a Nazi prison camp, Corrie ten Boom found God to be wholly satisfying. She said this:

The foundation of our happiness was that we knew ourselves hidden with Christ in God. We could have faith in God’s love…our Rock who is stronger than the deepest darkness.

Usually when we keep God out, we try to find fulfilment in something other than God, but we can never get enough of that thing. We keep ‘eating’ or ‘drinking’ more and more, erroneously thinking that more is the answer to the problem, yet we are never ultimately satisfied.

Our greatest desire is to know God, to have a relationship with God. Why? Because that’s how we’ve been designed. Have you hit a nail yet? If you know the Old Testament, you’ll see that God called David from the life of a shepherd to the life of a king. David found his purpose in life, when he answered God’s call.