Now What?Sample

‘What’s God’s purpose for my life?’ On day one of our reading plan, we asked the question, ‘When following Jesus, what’s the path he leads me down?’ Before moving on and pursuing the path Jesus leads us down, it’s important to forever settle the question of God’s purpose for our life. Instead of spending our time trying to figure it out, let’s invest our time in living it out. God’s purpose for your life is to participate in fulfilling his purposes for the world. In Mark, chapter 12, Jesus responds to a question posed by a religious teacher who asked, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’ His response, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.’’ God’s purpose for your life is to participate in fulfilling his purposes for the world. That begins by loving him with all your heart and continues by loving people with all your might. In a single statement, Jesus removes the mystery. In Matthew 28, Jesus is speaking to his followers, and before his ascension, says, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations…’ That means he wants us to introduce others to him. We participate in fulfilling God’s purposes for the world by loving him with all our heart, loving people with all our might, and introducing others to him. I’d estimate that to be roughly 90% of God’s purpose for our life. What about the other stuff, the other 10%? Should I go to college? If so, where? Who should I marry? What career am I supposed to choose? Is it time to buy a house? Do I continue feeding my unthankful teenager, and when should I quit the job that’s driving me crazy? What’s often a pleasant surprise is how much of the 10% falls into place when we live well the 90%. Scripture has more to teach on discerning God’s will for our life, but this is where we start and where we are encouraged to invest most of our energy. When we major on the majors, many of the minors will fall into place. When facing life’s challenges, questioning God’s purpose for your life is not what you want to be spending time on. You have the answer to that. Let’s live it out in every situation, every circumstance, every moment of every day. Consider This: What difficulty are you currently facing? How can you be intentional about fulfilling God’s purpose for your life in the midst of this difficulty?