Fleetmack.com - Purpose

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"I got some new underwear the other day. Well, new to me." --Emo Philips

The purpose of your life is.......drum roll please......I don't know!

01-17-03

Imagine this, I have no idea what I'm going to write about, but I have a very strong feeling this'll turn out for the best. As usual, please expect this to stray VERY far from the title I deemed upon the article, I should really start giving these things titles after I write them and after I decide what they're going to be about, but I guess that's just my style.

It seems like everywhere I go, everyone I listen or talk to, everything I read, and everything I think has been about one topic the last few weeks - What is my (and your) purpose in life? Initially a few quotes come to mind, take Peter Gibbons from Office Space for instance, and this will be paraphrased because I don't know exactly what he said. "We weren't put on this earth to sit in little cubicles all day." There's more in store for us than our careers.

When's the last time you went to the grocery store? Did you stock up on things you will never eat? Are there several things you buy intentionally with no intent of ever using? No! People buy things they need and can use to make meals and please and satisfy them. When you get a paycheck every few weeks for your hard work, do you plan on wasting a lot of it but only using some of it for dire needs? No - you use it for things you need and things that make you happy - it is never wasted. Now I'm sure those analogies have holes in them, so don't be sending me an email saying "One time I lost a $20 bill." or "When I cook meals, I don't eat all of it and half of it ends up getting thrown away." I don't care about those things, blah blah blah.

God had these same ideas in mind when He created us. Each of us has a purpose for Him. He didn't create any of us to sit in the cupboard and go to waste. He didn't invest His time and resources in us so we can be wasted. We each have a reason to be here, and it isn't a reason we pick. Free will has left us many choices in life, and we are free to make any choice we want, but in the light of these choices is God's will for us. Will we do as He would like us to? Do we act as he would like us to? Are we serving God to the best of our abilities?

A few weeks ago, I heard a preacher say something to the effect of "If you were able to see at this moment what God had in mind for you to do, you'd keel over in shock saying 'There's no way I can do all of that!' " God doesn't set goals for us that are easily reached or life would be no challenge. It is for this same reason that all of our prayer's aren't answered. Sure, they're listened to, but why should we be given everything we ask for? We were put on this earth to serve God, each of us in a different way, but the fact still stands.

"Do you serve a purpose, or purposely serve?" --from 'Omega' on the Stone Sour album.
This quote brings up an amazing point to me. I'm not sure what Corey meant when he said this, but it sparked a lot of interest in my mind - along with Day 33 of The Purpose Driven Life. I think I do both, and I think we are all supposed to do both. We most definitely serve a unique purpose, but we also must live as servants of God.

In Day 33, it states I serve God by serving others. Man I was happy as a kid on Christmas morning when I read that. That is exactly what I've always said. Some people say they weren't put here to serve God, but even unknowingly, you are. I have always believed that God lives in each and every one of us, so by respecting others and doing things for others, we are actually doing these things for God. This is just one way people serve God, but there are so many more ways, just keep your eyes open.

Wow, I'm way out in left field in tangent-land aren't I?

Some other thoughts have been placed in my mind lately by listening to others teach, and it's really cool. Why are so many people unhappy in this world and why do they think things aren't going right? Simply put, they're trying to live their life differently from the way God intended them to. If we would just open our eyes and do things in the light of Jesus, our lives would make sense and be more meaningful. There is a reason for everything, but what I don't understand is, what is the reason for those who refuse to accept their reason?

On a complete side note - I'm going to try to start working on making these articles make a little more sense and organized so you don't have to put up with my disorganized thoughts any more.