The average human life is about 25,000 days, so it isn’t unreasonable to dedicate 40 of those days to understand what our purpose on earth is and how we can fulfill that purpose. That is precisely what Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life seeks to help us do. The chapters are broken up in a series of 40 days, each day revealing the piece of the puzzle that is -- our purpose.
On Day 1 we learned that the question of life begins with God, and if we start with God, life begins to make more sense and have more meaning. Life isn't about us primarily, and often when we ask self-centered questions about life, it ultimately leaves us more perplexed about the mystery of life.
On Day 2, we learned that we are not an accident. We were God’s idea even before we were born. God designed us uniquely for our life’s mission and purpose.
On Day 3, we are asked the question, what drives your life? Many people are driven by guilt, resentment, anger, fear, materialism, and even the need for approval. There are many things that can drive a person’s life. However, being driven by God’s purposes for your life is the best force that can drive a person's life.
On Day 4, we learned that we were made to last forever. Although our days on earth are numbered, we were made to live forever in eternity. Christ defeated death on the cross, and if we accept what He did for us, we get to dwell with him forever in eternity.
Day 5 talked about seeing life from God’s view. How we see things matters greatly. Since people have different backgrounds, biases, prejudices, we all see things somewhat differently. It is almost impossible for everyone to see things the same way. This is especially true when it comes to life. If you are to ask 100 different people how they see life, you’ll likely get very many different responses. Some may see life as a circus, a roller-coaster, a journey, or a dance. Based on how a person perceives something, it affects therefore how a person reacts to it. How we see life influences and affects us more than we realize. It determines our values, relationships, goals, and priorities.
However, from God’s vantage point, life is a test and a trust. We see countless examples in the Bile of people God tested. God tested Abraham, Jacob, even Jesus. In life, if we see our experiences as a test, we will look to find the lesson that we ought to learn in our experiences, and what God is trying to show or teach us.
Life is also a trust. God has entrusted us to be stewards, to take care of what He has given us -- our talents, our gifts, our resources. The Bible tells us that everything belongs to God. We are merely stewards of everything on earth. We are not owners. A good steward takes great care of the resources he has been put in charge of. In the same way, God is seeing whether He can trust us. Whether He can trust us with the blessings He wants to give us. As we demonstrate more faithfulness as stewards, God pours more blessings into our lives.
Day 6 teaches us that life is a temporary assignment. As we learned in a prior chapter, we are made to last forever. Earth is not our permanent residence. As such, we are on earth to achieve a particular assignment. God has given us all different amounts of time to achieve a particular mission on earth. Living a purpose-driven life involves figuring out the assignment God has for you, and doing your best to achieve it before you leave earth.
Day 7 gives us the reason for everything. Romans 11:36 teaches us that everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by His power and everything is for His glory. Our lives are to be lived not to bring glory to ourselves but to God. When we live for our own glory, our motive for doing things is to make a name for ourselves. When we live for God’s glory, our motive is to make a name for God. The story of the tower of Babel teaches us what happens when we live life merely to make a name for ourselves. In the story of the tower of Babel, people gathered together and said to themselves, let us build the tallest, most magnificent building anyone has ever seen, so we can make a name for ourselves. God saw that because they were all of one mind, nothing was going to prevent them from achieving this goal. However, because their motive was wrong, he made them speak different languages so they would not understand each other and could not be of one mind. If you live to make a name for yourself, God will humble you. However, if you live to make a name for God, He will lift you up.
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