If God Is "I AM", then Who Am I? - Day 13

Day 13 – purposeful

 
A purpose is not created; it is discovered. You already have a purpose. You have always had a purpose. It has always been the same purpose. Your purpose will—for the remainder of your lifetime, at least—remain the same.  JOHN-ROGER and PETER MCWILLIAMS

 
Rick Warren's The Purpose-Driven Life¹ struck a chord with people across the geographic and social spectrum. Millions of copies were sold to individuals. Thousands of churches launched 40-Day campaigns. Scores of translations were made available due to worldwide demand. In the United States the book received national fame when a Georgia woman, held hostage by a judge-murdering fugitive, used it to convince the man to surrender. From teen to octogenarian, pauper to prince, benevolent to malevolent, Asian to Caucasian, the book's theme has rung true: God has a purpose for your life.

This punctuates a point I made in my second book: we humans are creatures of purpose more than creatures of habit. We have received from God a sense of purpose, so much so that we consider lack of it—as seen in the depressed—pathologic and in need of correction. In the mundane and monumental of our lives, a purposeful drive is omnipresent.

As we continue our gaze inward, we must underscore the importance of our life’s purpose. We must, like Jesus, keep it forever before us. At age twelve he turned to his parents and said: "I must be about my Father's business." His mind was set, his course determined. Nothing, including death on a cross, would deter or distract him.

So should you and I mimic his tenacity and focus, refusing to neglect or redirect God’s purpose for us. We, too, must be about our Father's business.

 

SELF-REFLECT

1. What talents or gifts has God given you?
2. What do you think God wants you to do
     with these talents and gifts?
3. In what specific ways this year can you use
     your talents and gifts for His purpose?
4. Start each morning with this thought:
     "I must be about my Father's business."


¹Rick Warren, The Purpose-Driven Life, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002).
 
Daily Quotation
John-Roger and Peter McWilliams, Life 101 (Los Angeles: Prelude Press, 1990), 211.

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