In order to live a joyful and meaningful life, we must possess a God-given vision, a strong purpose that directs us on our journey through life. Without a cause we lose our motivation. We will go through life simply existing. Life without a God-given purpose is meaningless.
Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained.” Vision gives us purpose with which to set goals for our lives. Paul said it this way, “…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 NAS).
Some people devote their entire lives to causes like saving the whales or the rain forest. While these are worthy and noble causes, they are temporal and will not last; they will soon fade away. However, as believers, the fruit of our cause—the cause of Christ—will endure for eternity. What is our cause? Seeing that men and women are reconciled to God and delivered from the bondage of the devil.
When the cause of Jesus Christ becomes the most important thing in our lives, we are compelled to restrain ourselves—to keep self under control and avoid distractions.
Distractions come through a variety of avenues: family, friends, bills, political or moral issues, television, or simply our daily responsibilities. If we put any of these first place in our lives, we will be drawn away from our time spent with the Lord and His Word. When anything other than our God-given assignment becomes our focus, we have become detoured from running our race.
More than once, the Apostle Paul likened the life of a believer to that of an athlete running a race. Notice 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 from The Amplified Bible:
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but one receives the prize? So run your race that you may lay hold of the prize and make it yours. Now every athlete who goes into training conducts himself temperately and restricts himself in all things. They do it to win a wreath that will soon wither, but we do it to receive a crown of eternal blessedness that cannot wither. Therefore I do not run uncertainly—without definite aim. I do not box as one beating the air and striking without an adversary. But like a boxer I buffet my body—handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships—and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit—not stand the test and be unapproved—and rejected as a counterfeit.”
In order to run our race with purpose and arrive at our God-given destination, we must know with certainty where we are headed! If we are uncertain of our God-given purpose, then we must make “finding our purpose” our only purpose.
