Living Life On Purpose

Introduction:

This morning I want us to look at God’s call of another one of His prophets—the Prophet Jeremiah. Last week we saw God call Isaiah through a vision of heaven that prompted Isaiah to Look UP and see the holiness of God—to Look INWARD and see his only sinfulness as well as God’s forgiveness—and then to Look OUTWARD and see God’s call to go and share His message. Today we are going to hear God’s call of Jeremiah, and our theme is going to be centered around the idea of living life on purpose.

All of us are driven by different things—different situations, settings, people, problems—work, family, interests, and so on. What I’d like for us to do this morning is to use God’s call of Jeremiah to remind us of the importance of living our lives on purpose for the Lord.

Text: Jeremiah 1:4-10 (NLT)

4The LORD gave me a message. He said, 5“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world.”

6“O Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!”

7“Don’t say that,” the LORD replied, “for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 8And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and take care of you. I, the LORD, have spoken!”

9Then the LORD touched my mouth and said, “See, I have put my words in your mouth! 10Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. You are to uproot some and tear them down, to destroy and overthrow them. You are to build others up and plant them.”

I’d like to begin by offering you some basic truths that I believe are crucial to understanding how to live life on purpose. We’ll simply refer to them as:

I. Things to Know

1. God is the Giver of Life

David in Psalm 139 painted a wonderful word picture of God as a giver of life:

Psalm 139:13-16 MSG

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;

you formed me in my mother’s womb.

I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!

Body and soul, I am marvelously made!

I worship in adoration—what a creation!

You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body;

You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,

how I was sculpted from nothing into something.

Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;

all the stages of my life were spread out before you,

The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.

The Lord gives us life—that is His gift to us. What we make of the life He gives us—that is our gift to Him. You don’t accidentally give someone a gift—you have to purposefully go and get something. If the gift is going to be a reflection of your love, your appreciation for that person, then you are going to put some thought into what you are going to give. Depending on the depth our your relationship, you will determine how much you will spend.

My point is this: God has given us the gift of life—that is a wonderful gift—so what are purposing to give Him?

2. God has a Purpose for the Life He has Given us

Rick Warren, the author of The Purpose Drive Life writes in the opening chapter of that book:

“You were made by God and for God—and until you understand that,

life will never make sense.”

Rick goes on to quote Ephesians 1:11 from the Message:

It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

We don’t have time to really to Go into all that is involved in discovering God’s purpose for our lives. I hope that sometime during this next year we can have some small groups go through The Purpose Driven Life, but there are two basic things that I believe God wants all people to know about His purpose for their life:

1) God wants everyone to know the hope of eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ.

2) God wants those who know His Son to be a reflection of Him in his or her daily life.

3) God will Enable us to Fulfill our Life’s Purpose

Jeremiah said to the LORD, “I can’t!” and the LORD quickly replied, “You can! If you depend on Me.” Jeremiah 1:8 is another one of those powerful “Emmanuel” passages of scripture, and one that you should highlight in your Bible: