Purposeful Living - Part 3
Sometimes a hindrance to purposeful living is the idea that "If God wants my life to go in a particular direction, He will orchestrate matters and force His will to come to pass". God is surely sovereign and all-powerful, but we see from the Scriptures that often we *must choose* to work with Him, in order that His purpose for our lives may come to pass.
A Profile in Purposeful Living - Paul of Tarsus
2 Timothy 3 (KJ2000)
10 But you have fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose…
Asides Jesus, another New Testament character who lived his life with a consciousness of God’s purpose for his life was Paul. Perhaps He talked about it a lot, and lived his life in such a way that Timothy didn’t stand in any doubt of it. Timothy knew Paul’s purpose just as surely as he knew his doctrine and his lifestyle.
This is not so surprising – Paul had known God’s purpose for his life since he got saved. Listen to him recount what Jesus had told him:
Acts 26 (KJ2000)
16 But rise, and stand upon your feet: for I have appeared unto you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of these things which you have seen, and of those things in which I will appear unto you;
Fulfilling Your Purpose Often Demands Sacrifice
Acts 20 (KJ2000)
22 And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
23 Except that the Holy Spirit witnesses in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.
24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Just like there was nothing inevitable about Jesus going to the cross, there was nothing inevitable about Paul’s sufferings. He could have stopped the persecutions at any time by simply ceasing to preach the gospel. But because he knew his purpose, he chose to suffer affliction so he could finish his assignment!
Paul Fulfilled God's Purpose for His Life
2 Timothy 4 (KJ2000)
6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
Sometimes, I attend a funeral and I hear a clergyman state with surprising confidence that the recently departed has “finished his course”. I often wonder in those situations whether a clergyman saying that about me some day would be telling the truth. For Paul, just a little while before he died he had already known he had finished God’s assignment for his life, and he told Timothy this without mincing words.
Paul Taught Others to Fulfil God’s Purpose for Their Lives
Paul taught and encouraged others to pay special attention to God’s purpose for their lives, and to let that be the motivation behind their activities in the ministry.
2 Timothy 4 (KJ2000)
5 But you watch in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fully carry out your ministry.
Colossians 4 (KJ2000)
17 And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it.
Learn from Paul
I wish I could tell you that you could fulfil God’s purpose for your life without prioritising it, but it simply isn’t true. You cannot consistently avoid a lifetime of labour and sacrifice and hope to be able to say like Paul, “I have finished my course, I have kept the faith”. No army will succeed when all its soldiers prioritise their comfort and convenience over their mission. No business will succeed when all its employees are prioritising their personal businesses over the business of the firm.
2 Timothy (KJ2000)
1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the things that you have heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
3 You therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4 No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier.
5 And if a man also competes as an athlete, yet is he not crowned, unless he strives lawfully.
6 The farmer that labors must be first partaker of the fruits.
7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give you understanding in all things.
Continue in grace!