Your occupation or career is not the same as your vocation or calling. Most people see their purpose as revolving around various pursuits that can be summarized in nine ‘P’s:
While none of these pursuits are bad in themselves, when they take first place above our pursuit of knowing Christ and reproducing His life in the lives of others, they become idols and obscure the greater purpose God has prepared for us.
Instead, God’s purpose for our lives transcends our present circumstances. Our career and circumstances might change, but our purpose is something more enduring.
Consider these statements that describe God’s role in defining the purpose of His people:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
And before you were born I consecrated you.
– Jeremiah 1:5 [referring to Jeremiah’s calling as a prophet]
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
– Psalm 139:16
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
– Ephesians 2:10
Even before we were born, God prepared a purpose for us. On one level, He has called all believers to the same purpose, which might be summarized as edification (our sanctification) and evangelism (the gospel’s proclamation). Taking Jesus as our example, we could also summarize this universal purpose as learning the Father’s will and walking in the power of the Spirit.
On another level, God’s purpose is unique for each individual based on our abilities and circumstances. It would be wise for us, therefore, to seek the Father’s guidance in determining a purpose statement for our lives that incorporates our universal purpose into our unique circumstances and personality.
[divider style=”solid” color=”#cccccc” opacity=”1″ icon_color=”#666666″ icon_size=”15″ placement=”equal”]
Watch more of Ken Boa’s Friday morning study videos here.
This series on purpose and passion is based on portions of Ken Boa’s Conformed to His Image: Biblical, Practical Approaches to Spiritual Formation.
These are the last recorded statements of Jesus Christ before His death on the cross. Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34) When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and
Mortality and the purpose of life are prominent themes in Thomas Cole’s paintings. Through his paintings, he vividly brings out the human dilemma of mortality, a dilemma we ourselves must wrestle with. Given the inevitability of death, what are we to do with our days? We can try to stave
In the article below, Dr. Boa synthesizes material from several teaching sessions from his series Biblical Principles for Marriage and from portions of his spiritual formation text Conformed to His Image (primarily from chapter 18, “Holistic Spirituality”). Dr. Boa focuses on agape love as one of the five forms of loves (based on the different Greek words). After reviewing all forms, he gives reasons for why agape is the greatest.
Receive the Latest from Reflections & Ken Boa