Count Your Blessings #23 – Having a Purpose

(I hope no-one thinks I am writing these items in order of their priority in my life because it would give you a really false view of the things that I regard as import. I write them when I feel the muse coming to write about a particular topic.)

“What is the purpose of my life?” It’s a really important question. It doesn’t always manifest itself in those exact words, but the root issue is the same. It’s a question that people ask at different times of their life. I was 17 when I first asked the question but for most people they seem to reach the question when they are in their 30’s. It creep up on people and no-one tells them that they are going to face it sooner or later. Even if someone did tell you that it was coming, I am not sure that anyone would face the question before it arrived.

When we are young we can barely see beyond the next big event in our lives. Even if that big event is only the next weekend, or the activity we are going to do that evening.

As we move into teenage life our time-frame broadens a bit, but not that far. We might be able to think as far as passing a qualification, but the thought of anything as grand as marriage and children is well beyond most teenagers. Most teenagers I know are looking as far as passing their driving test.

Most people go through radical changes in their twenties; they may get married; they may get a qualification; they may have children; they may get a job; they may buy a house. All of this activity leaves little time to think about the purpose of life, that’s for old people.

Through all of this a few realise that there is more to life; they seek a purpose and some even find it.

It is not until people reach their thirties that many of them start asking the question ‘why?’. Why did I bother? Why did that happen? Why didn’t that happen? Many people don’t even reach the question in their thirties but certainly many of the people I know do.

In the Bible there was someone who decided that they would try every part of life in order to find it’s meaning. He came to this conclusion:

“I was a wise teacher with much understanding, and I collected a number of proverbs that I had carefully studied. Then I tried to explain these things in the best and most accurate way. Words of wisdom are like the stick a farmer uses to make animals move. These sayings come from God, our only shepherd, and they are like nails that fasten things together. My child, I warn you to stay away from any teachings except these. There is no end to books, and too much study will wear you out.

Everything you were taught can be put into a few words: 

Respect and obey God! This is what life is all about.

God will judge everything we do, even what is done in secret, whether good or bad. “

I regarded it as a blessing is that I found the purpose of my life when I was 17. I did quite a bit of living before that point and I came to a place where I knew that none of the living was worth anything. It was at that time that I had a personal encounter with God. I don’t have the words to explain how that felt or even the mechanics of what happened; I just know that I met with God. From that point on I have known that the purpose of my life is to be an apprentice of God; to ‘respect and obey’ Him. The rest of my life has been framed within that single purpose.

The reason I write this blog is framed within that purpose.

The way that I am a father and husband is framed within that purpose.

The type of employee that I am is framed within that purpose.

My leisure time is framed within that purpose.

This purpose is the ultimate purpose upon which all other worthwhile purposes are built. I’m not talking here about a cause to champion or an aim to fulfill, I’m talking about a relationship between me and God.