Imagine God were to write a book about your life. With God as author, this biography would be totally truthful, accurately written. What sort of story would it be? Imagine God had a library of such books. Would He gladly place the volume bearing your name in a place of honours? Do you care what He thinks?
Remember the two greatest days of your life are the day you were born, and the day you find out what your purpose is, but if you don’t know what your purpose is then you don’t know why you are here, and without purpose, life does not make sense. Human beings, no matter who they are or where they live, all want to be significant, superior, and successful.' This relentless pursuit has produced some spectacular invention in the history of human being. God who has the master plan of everything crafted every element in the universe to perform a specific function. Chief among all of God’s creation are human beings who he made in his own likeness for his own purpose. We should all be positive about life because God created us all for a purpose; we are not accidents. Our greatest discovery in life is to discover our purpose and our greatest achievement is fulfilling it.
Everything in life “begins” and “ends” with purpose. Everyone on this planet was born with and for a purpose. It is this purpose that is the only source of meaning and significant. Without purpose, life is an experiment or a chaotic journey that results in frustration, disappointment and failure. Without purpose, life is subjective, or it is a trial and error game that is ruled by environmental influences and the circumstances of the moment. Likewise, in the absence of purpose, time has no meaning, energy has no reason and life has no precision. Therefore, it is essential that we understand and discover our purpose in life so that we can experience an effective, full and rewarding life.
“The Purpose Driven Life” book written by Rick Warren has sold over 35 million copies and is usually recommended as next to the Bible when it comes to Purpose Discovery. The book will help you see life from God’s perspective rather than from human perspective. The book's 40 chapters are divided into six major sections, with the following titles:
What on Earth Am I Here For?
Purpose #1: You Were Planned for God's Pleasure (Worship)
Purpose #2: You Were Formed for God's Family (Fellowship)
Purpose #3: You Were Created to Become like His son (Discipleship)
Purpose #4: You Were Shaped for Serving God (Ministry)
Purpose #5: You Were Made for a Mission (Mission)
Life is often defined by the questions we ask. The questions we are asking often reveal what we are thinking – or the direction we are going. Most people unfortunately never struggle to think about or find answers for the basic questions of existence, Origin, Purpose, Meaning and Destiny of life. The answers to these questions will consciously or unconsciously condition, empower or limit almost everything in that individual’s life. The late Dr. Myles Munroe touched many lives through his teaching ministry and he taught that in discovering God's purpose, there are five basic questions we must have answers to:
1. WHO AM I? Question of IDENTITY
2. WHERE AM I FROM? Question of HERITAGE
3. WHY AM I HERE? Question of PURPOSE
4. WHAT CAN I DO? Question of POTENTIAL
5. WHERE AM I GOING? Question of DESTINY
Let's analyse the questions
1. The question of "Who am I?" is a question of identity. Many people, who don't know their true identity normally face identity crisis and live the way others live, talk the way others do and do things the others do. So we need to find out who we really are.
2. The question of "Where am I from?" is the question of Heritage. We need to discover and find out where we are from. This does not refer to ethnic background but it refers to the source where we are originally from. If you don't know where you are from, you will never know where you are going.
3. The question of "Why am I here?" is a question of purpose. We need to find our purpose for life so as to live a purpose-driven life.
4. The question of "What can I do?" is a question of potential, unless we discover our abilities and potentials, we will never maximize it. There is something God has deposited in each of us to impact our life and our entire world, we’ve to bring it out.
5. The question of "Where am I going?" is a question of destiny. We should know where we are going, if we don't know where we are going, any way will right for us.
These questions are critical because it has eternal consequences. The question is very important – so is the answer. The Bible answers these questions with the authority of God. Believe it or not, the kind of questions we ask determine the kind of life we lead. Because our purpose isn’t just about us, only but it’s about what God wants to do through us. It’s about influencing and blessing our generation. Our purpose matters for eternity! So, what is your purpose? That is something that only the Lord can reveal to you.
WHAT IS PURPOSE?
Purpose is the reason why a thing exists, it's the desired result for a thing, and it’s the source of DESTINY. GOD is a God of purpose. Everything that God has ever created, He created with a purpose, and for a purpose. Purpose, therefore, is the original intent in the mind of the creator that motivated him to create a particular thing. The intent of God is the will of God. God's greatest desire is for you to discover your purpose for life. God has a manual for your life. It is our responsibility to find out what it says about us. The Bible is not “mere human ideas.” It’s the “a manual for your life” that has the power to transform lives and “continues to work in you who believe” Bible declares that “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”(Proverbs 19:21) This verse means 3 things; 1. Purpose is more important than plans 2. Purpose is more powerful than plans 3. Purpose precedes plans. Purpose is the innate sense of knowing why you were born (John 18:37). Others will not give you purpose but God makes others to support you to fulfil your purpose.
God designed you perfectly to accomplish your purpose. (See Psalm 139: “I was fearfully and wonderfully made.”) Nature abounds with evidence of this eternal law. The Master Manufacturer of all created things has made all His creations for a definite purpose and has established that purpose as the ultimate definition of success. God says your plans for life, your ideas, your dreams, desired career, your business, what you want to study in college should come after discovering His purpose for your life. God is therefore only concerned with His purpose and not your mere plans. Until purpose is discovered, existence has no meaning, for purpose is the source of fulfilment.
God is pleased when you discover your purpose for life and get busy doing it. God is only committed to His purpose and not your plans. Whatever God calls for, He provides for. Whatever you were born to do, is already paid for. Therefore the greatest tragedy in life is not death; the greatest tragedy in life is a life without a purpose. Your existence is evidence that this generation needs something that your life contains. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says , God set eternity in our hearts at birth; that is to say, He put His own heart and desire for our eternal purpose within us. (Ephesians 1:4.) In essence, you were born for a purpose and with a purpose. Your personal fulfilment is possible only in so far as you complete your destiny. The discovery of your personal purpose and its relationship to God's universal purpose must be the basis from which you live. You must strive to be who you were born to be.
As you discover who you are, you will learn that your purpose, your identity, your uniqueness and your potential are interdependent. You cannot truly 'know yourself,' as the great Greek philosophers admonished, until you discover your purpose. This is true because known purpose reveals the particular components God built into you to enable you to achieve all that He prepared for you. Nothing is truly yours until you understand it--not even yourself. Some people are born knowing what they want to do and even how to do it. The rest of us must spend hours figuring out what to do with our lives. So we must ask the primary question--'Why am I here?'— Proverbs 20:5 says “The purposes of a person's heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.”
We need the definition of three keywords to understand this concept.
1. Purposes: plans, counsel, resolve, deliberation, determination. These are often in the deep waters of our soul. what do we need? A wise person with a bucket! What do we do with a bucket?
2. “Draws”: To let down a bucket for drawing out water; figuratively, to deliver and draw out, lift up.
3. Insight: skilfulness in discerning between right and wrong. It is to know how to use the knowledge one possesses. Proverbs 27:19 says: "As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man." If we can't understand ourselves, we need to get together with a wise person—one who will help us draw out our heart. Those who have the most wisdom are generally the most reserved. Where knowledge dwells in large quantities, it is not like water on the surface that you can get at easily; it is rather like water that lies fathoms under earth--clear, beautiful, and refreshing--got at only by the pump, or the lifter and bucket. It has to be drawn out.
Check out your uniqueness and find out what differentiates you from the billions of people who inhabit this planet. Then pursue your aspiration deliberately and consistently. Be what you are. Capitalize on the natural skills and talents with which you were born, and don't lose them. When others belittle your special gifts and try to remake you according to their plans and purposes, refuse to yield to their domination. Don't let anyone prevent you from becoming and doing all that you were born to be and do. The fact that you were born is proof that you were already completed because God always finishes what He starts. Isaiah 46:9-10 teaches that God finishes something first in the spirit realm, and then He backs up and creates it physically. (Philippians 1:6). Genesis 1:26-27 shows that we were made to reflect the person of God. Ephesians 3:21: When we reflect the image of God we also manifest the glory He called us to walk in. Remember your natural talents and abilities always contribute and correspond to your purpose and destiny.
Within each of us are Visions and aspirations longing to be realized, great dreams for the future — a purpose and a destiny to be fulfilled. But so often, we put those dreams aside in order to adjust in the real world. The demands of daily life threaten to rob us of our purpose and dreams. But we must realize that those deep desires and longings, those dreams that just won’t go away are in us for a purpose.
The wisest King Solomon gave this advice to the youth of his day. “REMEMBERS YOUR CREATOR IN THE DAYS OF YOUR YOUTH” (Ecclesiastes 12:1) this verse contains a continuation of the thought that was begun in the previous chapter. The subject was the brevity of youth. It is clear that this is an appeal to young people to think carefully about their Creator, not merely to remember that he is there. The thought is: recall God's presence daily; live in a relationship with him; seek to discover the greatness and glories of God while you are still young, before it is too late.
This World says, “Youth for pleasure, middle age for business, old age for religion.”
The Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) Clearly Scripture teaches that training children to know and obey God is the basis for pleasing Him and living victoriously in His grace. Knowing God and His truths begins with the child’s understanding of sin and his need for a Savoir. The greatest futility of all is a life that has not found the reason for living. What a waste to live your life and never discover why you are here! What a waste, to die without learning the secret of true existence! God’s glory is the reason for our existence. It’s not just a reality or the resource. It is the present reason for everything. It’s all for God’s glory. Romans 11:36 says, “Everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory” (NLT). It means you make God’s purpose your purpose. You make God’s will your will. You care about what God cares about. Whatever you want God to bless, put him first in that area.
Remembering God does not mean merely thinking about him once in awhile. It means to relate to him, walk with him, discover him, and learn to know God while you are young. There are two excellent reasons given for this.
First, because "evil days are coming" Old age is setting in, and one of the characteristics of old age is that we lose our ability to change and to learn new things; we are subjected to greater pressures. Those days become "evil days." I know that there probably has never been a time when youth has been subjected to more temptations and pressures to wrong living than today. Temptation is all around us, it is powerful. The appeal of the world and the flesh is constantly with us, turning thousands of young people away from the truth of God. The pressures to conform are greater as you move out into life ahead; Evil pressures increase; that is one good reason to remember your Creator in the days of your youth.
Then, secondly, for youth your motivations are highest now. The Searcher says there are coming days "when you will say, 'I have no pleasure in them.'" That is, when you will say, "I'm not motivated at all." One of the signs of age is its unwillingness to change, its resistance to new ideas. I have oftentimes observed the tragedy of people who have acknowledged the fact that they had missed the secret of life but they were unwilling to change simply because it was so hard to do so when they were old. This is why Bible exhorts young people, "Learn about God now; open your heart to God; seek the wisdom of God now. Learn the Scriptures now, when you are young, while motivation is high and evil pressures are less, and you can discover the secret of living while you are still young." "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth," before all the pressures come upon you.
Remembering God means to seek Him, relate to Him, walk with Him, discover Him, and learn to know Him while you are young. There are reasons given for this. Ecclesiastes 11:9 this is the key verse. To those who are young, he offered the following exhortations...
A. Rejoice in your youth - Ecclesiastes 11:9 but Remember "evil days are coming."
B. Removes sorrow and evil from your youth – (Ecclesiastes 11:10) you are very unque and God has a purpose for your life.
C. Remember God in your youth – (Ecclesiastes 12:1) REMEMBER THE LORD BEFORE OLD AGE COMES.
D. Reflect upon what is coming – (Ecclesiastes 12:1-12) REMEMBER THE LORD WHILE YOU ARE STILL ALIVE
E. Fear God, and keep his commandments- Ecclesiastes 12:13 - This is the secret of wholeness: REMEMBER THE LORD BECAUSE ALL ELSE IS EMPTY. God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. [Ecclesiastes 12:14)
Friends, Have faith in God; experience his grace; stand in awe of his Person; and resolve to obey him. That is what fearing God means. That is the secret to life; that is the secret of the wholeness of man. Remembering your Creator help you make wise decisions so that your lives will be built on the firmest possible foundation (Matt. 7:24-27; Ps. 119:9). You were made for greatness, not mediocrity. The earlier you discover the purpose the greater the opportunity that you have to fulfil it.
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