This if the fourth message in the Skillful Living Series. The message today is your purpose of life.
Do you know your purpose of life? Do you feel like you have a purpose? What do I mean by purpose? Well, some would say Abraham’s purpose of life was to be the father of God’s covenant people. Some would say Mary’s purpose of life was to be the mother of Jesus. Some would say John the Baptist’s purpose of life was to be a proclamation of the coming of Christ.
Scripture says before John the Baptist was born, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and called to go before Jesus to preach His coming. Luke 1:15 says, “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.”
John indeed went before to preach the coming of Jesus to the people. John’s purpose was to be a voice of the coming of Jesus. John knew this. His parents knew this. And eventually the children of Israel came to know this.
Purpose is our realization of who we are, to know our reason for being, and to know why we are here at this moment in time. Purpose speaks from inside each of us, reminding us of exactly who we are. It is the reason we live where we live. It is the reason we do the things we do.
When we come to know our purpose of life, we come to know how to live that life skillfully and successfully. John had a spiritual calling and purpose. He understood that. But he had to learn to live out that spiritual calling and purpose in a carnal world. John had to do the everyday things that every other person had to do.
It’s no different for you and me. We may or may not have the spiritual call on our lives that John had, but we know what God has revealed to us about us. Each of us has a thing inside of us that yearns to live through our lives daily. It is what tells us this is not who we are or perhaps this is exactly who we should be.
Purpose is not just what you do; purpose is the reason for the things we do. When you discover your purpose, it becomes the reason you live skillfully in all you do. Purpose is the reason for being. Without purpose you may pursue many things you can never do or be skillfully.
When you know that your purpose of life is to be a positive influence on the people around you, you would never take a job that impacts people in a negative way. When you know your purpose, you know how you should act and how you should behave. You know who you are and, perhaps more importantly, you know who you are not.
Purpose of life helps you learn to start your life each day on a successful path so you can do successful things. Purpose lives in your heart. It will help you learn to connect your heart to your head and your hands so that all you do comes from a place of being more than from the skills and talents you may acquire.
Your purpose of life teaches you why you are alive. It teaches you how you should live and it reveals to you what you should do daily. Purpose keeps you from wasting your life on things that serve only you.
By now, some of you are probably saying your purpose of life is to love and to serve the Lord. That may be true, but that is the same for each of us who are children of God. God wants all His children to love and to serve Him, but the purpose of life I am talking about is more than that. Each of us has a practical call on our lives that we must discover.
Our individual purposes are different from each other. There was only one Abraham. There was only one Mary. There was only one John the Baptist. There was only one Paul. Each of these people had individual calls, yet each was expected to love and serve the Lord.
Like Abraham, Mary and John, you have an individual call of purpose on your life in addition to the call to live a spiritual life of love and service to the Lord. Spend some time today in prayer. Ask the Lord to help you discover your purpose of life. He will do that for you if you ask Him.
Then learn to live a life of purpose as you live a life of love and service to the Lord. You will learn to live more skillfully as you do this. When you know your purpose of life is to be a listening ear to those who have things to say, you will learn to listen skillfully and better than others.
Live a Delivered Life. Love you.
Live Delivered 