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FIRST-PERSON: Living life with purpose

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EL CAJON, Calif. (BP)–What kind of life do you want to lead? A life that creates a lasting impression, chiseled through imperishable deeds?

In order to live this kind of life — a life written upon everlasting rock instead of temporal wind or waves — we must have a goal that makes our lives significant. A purpose worth living and dying for, a passion that transcends our limited world, a cause bigger than we are — such is the making of a life of purpose.

You can’t serve the generation that preceded you, because you weren’t there. You’ll never be able to serve the generation after you, because you won’t be there. You have to serve the generation in which you live, and you must do it by the will of God. The greatest way we can serve the generation in which we live is to live a life of purpose.

If we aren’t careful, we just let the years come and go, and we’re too tired, too busy or too distracted to find our purpose. We need to change from a passive, lethargic existence to a powerful and purposeful life. That was the secret of God’s heroes of earlier generations.

When the shepherd boy, David, decided to take on Goliath, he was disparaged by his brothers who resented his brash self-confidence. His response? “Is there not a cause?” (1 Samuel 17:29) Jesus once explained, “For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37).

Have you determined what your life’s “cause” may be? Let me give you some ideas that will help.

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Why did God place you on earth at this particular moment? Why did He give you the background, personality, gifts and life experiences that are yours alone? How can you find God’s purpose for life?

Give Him all there is of yourself. Say, “Here I am, Lord. Use me.” The famous Bible teacher F. B. Meyer, preaching in 1904 in Keswick, England, testified:

“I remember so well when He [Jesus] came to my heart and challenged me as to the keys of my life. Before I gave them to Him, I put one small key in my pocket. He gave them back and said He could not be King at all if He could not be King of everything. I said, ‘I cannot give it; but I am willing for Thee to take it,’ and He took it. Then they were all His.”

It’s sometimes difficult to turn every area of life over to Christ, but He can only use what is wholly yielded to Him.

Ask Him to show you His purpose and plan for your life. Proverbs 3:6 says, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Seek Him in His Word. In Bible study, we often hear that still, small voice of God saying, “This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21). I particularly recommend Psalm 139:16-17, where David testified, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!” God has a plan and purpose for every day of your life. It’s already mapped out.

Serve Him. Don’t wait for a lightning bolt of revelation. Find a need right now and fill it. Do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, and you’re doing it as unto Him. Jesus promised that if we are faithful in little, He will know we can be trusted with more later on.

Trust Him. Being faithful means we’re full of faith; we believe God wants to use us; He has placed us here; He will make us fruitful. Proverbs 3:5, 6 says to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Let’s give ourselves fully to His work, seeking His specific purpose for each of our lives, knowing that our labor in the Lord is carved upon the rock of eternity.
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David Jeremiah is the founder of Turning Point for God, senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, Calif., and chancellor of San Diego Christian College (formerly Christian Heritage College). For more information on Turning Point, visit www.TurningPointOnline.org.