Have you ever thought about what life is really all about? What you have been created for? Why you are where you are? Does it seem possible to you that God loves you and has a purpose for your life?
Your life matters!
Q. At this point in your life, what do you think your purpose in life is?
Your life is not an accident!
Psalm 139:13–18 says: “Certainly you made my mind and heart; you wove me together in my mother’s womb. I will give you thanks because your deeds are awesome and amazing. You knew me thoroughly; my bones were not hidden from you, when I was made in secret and sewed together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. All the days ordained for me were recorded in your scroll before one of them came into existence. How difficult it is for me to fathom your thoughts about me, O God! How vast is their sum total! If I tried to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. Even if I finished counting them, I would still have to contend with you.”
Imagine, God’s thoughts toward you outnumber the grains of sand on earth! He cares deeply about you! He planned for you to be here!
However … it’s not all about you! What?
The Bible teaches that God has a specific plan for you … but that plan is specifically tied to how you fit into His eternal master plan. God has given you the freedom to choose His plan or your own plan. To choose wisely, you must understand how life fits into the big picture of God’s eternal master plan, and you must learn from the choices others have made. It’s important to remember that you have the freedom to choose, but not freedom from the consequences of your choices.
All of creation and history exist for the glory of God. Ultimately, we have been created to know God, to appreciate his divine qualities, and to give ourselves to God in worship and service. The value of our existence is derived from our knowing God and pleasing Him with our lives.
Q. In what way(s) are you presently living for God?
Q. In what way(s) are you presently living for yourself?
God is your loving Father and He planned and designed you to be His child for all eternity. Ephesians 1:3–6 tells us: “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He did this by predestining us to adoption as his legal heirs through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will—to the praise of the glory of his grace that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son.”
You are free to choose God’s plan or your own plan.
The Bible is filled with promises from God about His plans for us. God’s purpose for your life is for you to live as His child! John 1:12 says, “But to all who have received him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
As God’s child, He will always love you!
We often do not realize that the Bible is filled with promises from God about His plans for us. Here are just two scriptures that tell us about God’s design for our lives.
Ephesians 2:10 encourages us with these words, “For we are his creative work, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we can do them.”
Ephesians 4:11–16 teaches: “And he himself gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God—a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature. So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes. But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the body builds itself up in love.”
God wants you to live in such a way that you will experience His best, which He has planned for all eternity.
Q. As you think about these two passages from Ephesians, what are some abilities and talents you have that God might be wanting you to use for Him?
God has a specific job for you to do. He wants your life to fit in with His master plan. He wants you to advance His purposes. God wants you to live in such a way that you will experience His best, which He has planned for all eternity. Whatever your situation, your choice matters. God wants you to submit to His plan for your life.
Q. Is there something in your life (such as a relationship, a possession, a job, a commitment, or something else very important to you) that is standing in the way of what God wants you to do?
Second Corinthians 5:17 reminds us, “So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away—look, what is new has come!”
In Jeremiah 29:11 we are told, “For I know what I have planned for you,” says the Lord. “I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope.”
Application
Q. As you think about all that has been presented here, what have you have been created for?
Q. In what ways do you see God working in your life—big and small?
Q. In what ways are you embracing God’s purpose for your life? In what ways are you fighting it?