The Importance of Purpose

 

Why? Why? Why? Even as a child I wanted to know why. Why do things one way and not the other? Why do these words mean this and not that? Why is this right and that wrong? Why do things a certain way? Teachers and family grew tired of my incessant "why's", but I truly wanted to know.

And I still do.

I want to know the reason for actions, the rationale for thought processes, the purpose behind a certain path. Knowing my purpose has helped me keep the goal in sight and press on to achieve it.

King David, for the most part, understood who he was and why he was in leadership. He saw himself as a shepherd who was king, but he also knew his primary position was "servant of God". King David knew his job as the king-who-served-God was to shepherd God's people, and that's what he did.

I'm not sure Solomon ever understood his purpose in life. The more I read about him, the more convinced I am that Solomon served Solomon. He was king and he spent his life accumulating gold, and horses, and wives. He built houses and traveled, but he spent very little time worshipping God.

Except for the dedication of the temple, there is only limited evidence of Solomon having a heart for God.

I found it interesting to read the account of the Queen of Sheba's visit. Solomon spent time answering questions and demonstrating his wisdom. He showed her the things that mattered most to him. He revealed his riches and dined with her using goblets, plates, and utensils of gold. 

Queen Sheba was impressed with Solomon. Stunned by his wisdom. Astounded by his wealth. In some ways, though, she was far more wise than Solomon.

She summed up the visit with these words:

"Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel; Because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness." 1 Kings 10:9 nasb

The Queen of Sheba understood what Solomon, perhaps, did not. God loved Solomon, but He didn't make him king to give him a storehouse full of gold. God made Solomon king to practice justice and righteousness in order to bless Israel.

We, too, have a purpose, and it is one of righteousness, obedience, and love. We are to love the Triune God, our Lord, with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves. 

Our purpose is not to accumulate wealth or gain knowledge. Our purpose is, like David, to serve God. We may gain riches and wisdom along the way, but, when we die, we will leave all our accumulated treasure behind. 

Only our relationship with the Almighty will matter in eternity.

Today, let's stop and ask ourselves that little question that matters so much. Why?

Why do I do the things I do?

Why did God place me in this place at this particular time?

God's goal for us is a relationship with Him that results in righteousness and justice. That should be our goal, too.

Let's live in such a way that we pursue His goals, His righteousness all the days of our lives.

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The photo above is the field that once belonged to Boaz, the field in which David shepherded his sheep. It's also the field where the angels appeared to the shepherds the night Jesus was born.

In case you missed it, here's the link for yesterday's post: Prosperity Does Not Equal Godliness (http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2016/05/prosperity-does-not-equal-godliness.html)

For those doing the Hosea study, the Chapter Four lesson is now live and here's the link: Chapter Four 
(http://lessonsindiscipleship.blogspot.com/2016/05/hosea-chapter-four.html)

#purposeinlife #goals #disciple

Knowing The Goal and Moving Toward It

A writer friend of mine shared a new writing technique she'd learn to help her press toward her goal of more words. Basically this technique, described by Henry McLaughlin, involved one-hour "Writing Blasts". You set a timer, sit down at your computer, and start writing as fast as you can for one hour. Get up and walk around for ten or fifteen minutes, then blast away again. The idea is to get three blasts done in the morning. 

McLaughlin has a second goal, of 500 words per scene, with an alert set to chime when he reaches that goal. In essence, he has two goals that run simultaneously. He is constantly pressing toward the goal. 

I'm currently doing a rewrite of my entire first manuscript. That sounds worse than it is, of course. I'm tightening the writing and changing some scenes in order to tell them from a different character's point of view. It's made my story much better and I'm thrilled by the improvement, but it's hard work.

The total words in my original manuscript:92,612

Total words in my rewrite (so far): 26,808

Yes. I have a long way to go. I've completed most of the "worst" part, but there are some sections that still need to be rewritten. This is hard, but it's worth it. I'm keeping my goal in sight, which is to be finished before Thanksgiving. I have 28 days to make it happen. (I don't usually write on Sundays.) With 65,804 words left to rewrite, I need to fly through 2,350 words a day. Some days, I'll likely do more. Some days, I'll likely do less. 

One critical step is required to reach the end. Keep the goal in sight. 

That's what Jesus did. Some Pharisees came up to Jesus and said, "You need to get out of here, because Herod wants to kill you." Jesus said, "Go tell that fox I'll be healing people and casting out demons for two more days and, on the third day, I'll reach my goal." (Leanna Paraphrase)

Jesus wasn't worried about Herod's plans because He had the end in sight. He was steadily moving toward it. In three days, Herod's plans and Jesus' plans would line up and God's ultimate goal of redemption would be achieved.

"The third day I reach My goal." (Luke 13:32 nasb)

Healing the sick wasn't Jesus' goal. Casting out demons wasn't Jesus' goal. His goal was the Cross, and He never stopped moving toward it until that fateful day when the goal was fulfilled. Redemption was complete.

The Apostle Paul wrote of the only goal in his life. "One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14 nasb)

We, too, have goals in life, some probably more admirable than others. If we are to please God, however, we need a goal that mirrors that of Christ. Our citizenship is in heaven and we must strive to be more like the One who purchased that eternal citizenship. This lofty goal will only be met by transformation of our hearts and our lives by the Power of the Holy Spirit in us. 

It seems unusual to have a goal that we, ourselves, cannot accomplish. We can only allow the accomplishing. To achieve our goal, then, we must humble ourselves and allow God to change us as He desires. 

We aren't who we should be. We don't love as we should, or work as we should, or give as we should, but we can be more. We can love more, work more, give more. We can be more like Christ, if we will allow it. So let's allow it. Let's invite God's Spirit to do more in us than we can imagine, to transform us so that all who see us will know that they have glimpsed the Christ in us because of the work He's done.

Come, Holy Spirit, and do your work in us. Change us, transform us. Make us more like Christ. More giving. More loving. More humble. More grace. More like You.

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In case you missed any of the past week's posts, here are the links: Refillable Nespresso capsules,  The New Normal, The Blessing Disguised as Coincidence, The Blessing of Protection, Becoming a Writer: Cover Reveal, and I Shook His Hand Once.

The most read post of the past week: The New Normal.

Here's the link to The Clay Papers, available as an e-book for personal use or to send as a gift for only 99 cents. 

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photo courtesy of freeimages.com

#disciple #JesusChrist #followHim #goals #transformed