Rediscover the Bible for Life

“God’s Purpose for Your Life”

By Dennis Lee

I’d like to give you one scripture that defines what it means to live a great life.

“For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep.” (Acts 13:36a NKJV).

This defines the type of life that should move and motivate us. Can you imagine this being said about us; that we served God’s eternal purpose in this generation and community?

During times of war, prison commandants would assign prisoners the task of digging a huge hole. They would give them shovels to dig and gunnysacks to carry the dirt across the compound. This was usually done during the heat of the day.

The prisoners would work for months, and finally when the job was finished, and the prisoners were feeling a little satisfaction, the commandant would give them new gunnysacks to refill the hole with the dirt they had just dug out.

This caused some prisoners to go insane.

If they had been moving dirt for a reason, that’s one thing, but moving dirt arbitrary, without any purpose has the capacity of driving people clinically insane.

As human beings we were not built like that. We desire a sense of purpose in what we do. So, living without purpose is insanity.

There’s a book in the Bible devoted to the insanity of moving dirt piles? It’s the Book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon, the wisest of all human beings tried living life through various means, Ecclesiastes 2:1-11.

First Solomon tried living life for possessions, so he went out and accumulated great wealth. He was considered the richest man to have ever lived. He had built whole cities just to hold his chariots and horses.

Next Solomon tried living his life for prestige and power. Kings and Queens came from all around the world just to see and to hear what Solomon had to say.

Finally he lived for pleasure. Nothing was withheld from him. He had over 700 wives and 300 concubines. He got whatever he wanted to satisfy his lusts.

Solomon lived for everything, but had no purpose. In the end Solomon gives us five tragic consequences as a result. Living life without purpose is useless, tiring, unfulfilling, insignificant, and uncontrollable.

In other words, we were created for moving more than the dirt piles of life.

What is our purpose?

First is to be a part of his family, Ephesians 1:4-5. God made us to have a relationship with Him because He loves us and wants to have a loving relationship with us.

Second is for us to spend eternity with Him, Ephesians 1:10.

All of history is moving toward a climax; there is a destiny, a grand and glorious scheme where God will take all who believe in Him into eternity in heaven.

Don’t trade your life for what is temporary. Outside of the decision to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, the most important decision in your life will be, “Am I going to live for the here and now, or am I going to live it in the light of eternity?”