DISCOVERING PURPOSE

DISCOVERING PURPOSE

Winston Churchill made a very memorable observation about the nation of Russia during a 1939 radio broadcast: “It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”  William Shakespeare wrote a similar comment about this journey that we call life.  “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” (Macbeth, act 5, scene 5)  Unfortunately for many, all that life represents can be summed up as riddles, mysteries, enigmas, idiotic tales, furious sounds…a totality of nothing.  Such sentiments make it difficult to get out of bed in the morning, let alone to confront the unknown and potentially troublesome circumstances of each day.  Such is the perilous plight of those whose lives are devoid of purpose.

Dictionary.com defines “purpose” as “the reason for which something exists.”

Perhaps, our more momentous accomplishment prior to our ‘dirt naps’ will be the discovery of why we are here.  It is the question of our lives.  It is the underpinning of all our conscious and subconscious thoughts, it is what motivates all our decisions and actions.  Friedrich Nietzsche contended that “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”  I heartily agree.  It is the absence of purpose that haunts and hurts us.  To live without purpose is to live without meaning.

About a hundred years ago, a man looked at the morning newspaper and, much to his surprise and horror, he read his own name in the obituary column.  The newspaper had erroneously reported the death of the wrong person.  His first response was total shock.  He thought, “Am I still alive? Am I here or there?”  When he regained his composure, his second thought was to find out what people had said about him.  The obituary title was, “Dynamite King Dies” and it described him “the merchant of death.”  This was the public view of this man, the inventor of dynamite.  When he read those words, “merchant of death,” something stirred deep within and he asked himself an important question, “Is this how I will be remembered?”  That day, he got in touch with his deepest feelings and concerns about life and decided that this was not the way he would live or be remembered.  From that point, he started working passionately toward world peace.  His name was Alfred Nobel and he is remembered by the prestigious prize that bears his name, “The Nobel Prize.”  Alfred Nobel searched his heart, redefined his values, and transformed his legacy.  We can do the same.

Carefully consider this.  If you were to leave this plain-of-mortality today, how would you be remembered by your family, your friends, your neighbors, your colleagues, your co-workers, or even by your enemies?  More importantly, what ‘spiritual obituary’ would God inscribe within the Book of Life?

The discovery of your purpose is the greatest gift and glory to the Creator who endowed you with the most precious personal gift: your life.   Exactly what are you doing with that which HE initially endowed to you?

Jesus Christ taught a poignant parable about our Creator’s expected return-on-investment.  He said “the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.” (Matthew 25:14)  This act is very significant because it is symbolic of our God-given lives and distinctive abilities.  Our Creator designed uniqueness in each of us, and so the servants in this parable were provided with differing degrees of “goods” or “talents” in accordance with their abilities: one, two, or five.  The servants who received two and five talents traded and doubled that which had been initially granted.  The servant who received one talent hid it in the ground and offered insufficient excuses for his lack of productivity at the return of his estate master.  The former were commended as “good and faithful servants.” (Matthew 25:21;23)  The latter was condemned as a “wicked and slothful servant.” (Matthew 25:26)

It is my contention that this one-talented-servant underestimated both his personal worth and the value of that which had been entrusted to him.  It seemed somewhat small in his eyes, and that is precisely how he treated it.  The result was an unfulfilled life and a calamitous ending.

What is your worth?  What is the value of the talents that have been assigned to your hands?  And what are you doing with them?  My greatest fear in life is the possibility of standing before my Creator without a meaningful response to this question or without fruit that would verify my self-assessment.  Jesus Christ issued this grave warning to all of us.  “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”
(Matthew 25:13)  Ready or not, He is coming.  Discover your purpose…and pursue it!