I woke up this morning with the thoughts of Purpose all over my mind. The thoughts that we all one day, irrespective of our gender, race, skin color, biases, family background and et cetera; would stand before God to give account of our life’s stewardship. This thought has always put me in check. I am a firm believer in the fact that this life that we possess, and that we hold dear, isn’t ours, and one way to prove this is the fact that it can be demanded at any time.
I mean, if we own our life for example, we should be able to hold onto it, even when death comes knocking. You see, the greatest wish of any man or woman at the verge of death is not more cars or more houses or more pleasure, No! The greatest wish of any one at the point of death would be “more time” — more time to right the wrongs, more time to probably live a Purposeful life, more time to see family and friends at least for the last time. Why do people wish for more time at that critical juncture of their lives? Why don’t they just still hold on to their ‘breathe’ if they truly own it?
But we don’t own our lives. And that should tell you something profound, that life is a gift. Our existence is on God’s benevolence. Our life is bestowed on us at God’s own majestic pleasure. Everything that God does, including giving us life, is for His own pleasure. Philippians 2:13 says: “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
What does that tell you? It means that you cannot live your life at your own pleasure. It has to be at His own pleasure. Even though you may be tempted to think this way: “if life is a gift, and He (God) has given it to me, why can’t I live it the way I want? I mean, who goes around to give someone a gift and then monitors how he or she uses it.” Sometimes we may be tempted to think this way. Afterall, many of us in the past have been privileged to bestow certain gifts on people and we don’t monitor how they use it. But God isn’t like that. Of all the things that God has given us freely to enjoy, He so much takes cognizance of the way we use our lives. And I am going to show you why He does that in a bit.
If you critically examine everything that God created — Plants, animals, cosmos, stars, galaxies, Adam and Eve, and so on, you would see all of them laced in Purpose. God is not a haphazard God; God is highly intentional. There was nothing He made or created that was bad, everything was good. Genesis 1:31 says: “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So, the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” If there had been or was any iota of ‘badness’ in what God had made, I doubt He would have rested. Why? Because the immediate next chapter of Genesis showed us that God blessed everything He had made and then rested! “Thus, the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” (Genesis 2:1-3)
I am sure you know that nobody goes to bed until a very good job had been done. So, God rested because He had done a fantastic job, and everything He had made and created were “for His good pleasure” and that includes your very life. Now, this is where the question of Purpose comes in, and it is also where you must begin to view your life differently from henceforth. Everything that God made was so beautiful in His eyes, but God didn’t stop at them, until He made man who would take charge over the things He had made. You see, the question of Purpose had been infused in man right from the very beginning of creation. Your Purpose was not conceived at your birth, No! This is where a lot of people miss it. Your PURPOSE HAD BEEN PRE-ORDAINED! Look at what God said to Jeremiah:
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you;
Before you were born, I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”Jeremiah 1:4-5
That your life would exist to fulfill the will and the Purpose of God is not a product of your parents. As a matter of fact, your parents are there to simply guide you into this pre-ordained Purpose of God. So, in case you have been asking yourself: “why is God interested in my life? Why won’t He allow me to enjoy my life?” It is because He owns it, and He has commissioned that life you call yours to fulfill His Purpose. Apart from this, you are also going to appear before Him to give account of how you have lived this life at the end of the day. I mean, this thought alone is even well enough to put you in the right perspective. Just picture yourself appearing before a panel of judges to give account of your stewardship say, for the last twenty-four hours of your life. Did you see that? The thoughts that you would appear before a panel would propel you towards doing the needed things to be done.
Living a Purposeful life for example, would make you less afraid of death. Truth be told, many people today are afraid of dying because they don’t even know what the after-life holds for them. Many times, it had crossed the hearts of many that there is a God above who watches over all things they do. But they are simply afraid of meeting Him because they know their lives have not so much glorified Him. The Bible says concerning David that he served the will of the Lord in his generation and he confidently “fell asleep” afterwards (Acts 13:36). There was no record that David was afraid of dying because he knew he did serve the Purpose of God for his generation. I think there is a portion of the Scripture that even says “if you do well, happy are you!”
There is no other better way to be at peace with yourself other than knowing that you are in the will of God, and that you served or serving His Purpose for your generation. One day, your life would be demanded, yes, this same life that you have right now. But that day you don’t know. That day I don’t know. But there is something we do know for sure, and it is that life is a gift from God, and that life is meant to serve His own pleasure which is towards a greater Purpose.
Thank you!
Article Source: [Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
