“Whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:27-28, NIV)
It’s the question every thinking person has asked throughout time. Life goes too quickly to ask it every day, which is OK, because we just might drive ourselves crazy if we dwelt on it with regularity.
Maybe by now you’ve guessed what it is, but let me give you another hint. It’s the question I start asking each time I send a ball out of bounds or three-putt from 10 feet. The import may not be the same as at other times, but the words are the same. Why am I here?
In the moment, that question might just be a cry for something better to do. I asked it, for instance, when I had to sit through my sister’s ballet recitals as a teenager. I loved her, but man, there was a lot of pink tulle twirling about the stage before they got to her group.
As those who follow Jesus, though, we should be asking this question far more largely. It’s not about moments, at least not in the beginning.
We are here to glorify God. We glorify him when we love him, love him when we obey him, and obey him when we serve others rather than ourselves.In the beginning, we find answers like the one that kicks off the Westminster Catechism: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Ironically, this beginning is about our end. But what of now? What is my purpose today?
Love is a good answer, course. Followers of Jesus are to be known by their love, loving because he first loved us. Maybe the reason we’re here is to love one another. That seems like a sweeping answer with great potential. But what does love look like? How is it expressed?
Jesus said that love toward him looks like obedience. “If you love me, you will obey what I command,” he told those closest to him (John 14:15). That’s a simple standard. Read Jesus’ commands and obey them. That’s a grand purpose to fulfill.
But love can’t really be reduced to a checklist of do’s and don’ts. We fulfill every command when we love God and others, but we’re most likely to accomplish that if we look to Jesus and do what he did. Jesus served. He served right to the end, giving his life as our ransom. Does our love look like that? Not often. But we would not be wrong to say that our purpose is to serve.
Your answer to this big question, then, may be a matter of semantics. We are here to glorify God. We glorify him when we love him, love him when we obey him, and obey him when we serve others rather than ourselves. Maybe I can’t give you one big reason for why you are here. An answer for your head wouldn’t be helpful anyway. You need to own this in your heart. If today you think of it as glorifying God and tomorrow as loving him, obeying him, or serving him, you’re going to be all right. Put your answer, whatever it is, into action and you’ll be living a purposeful life.
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Jeff Hopper
April 3, 2019
Copyright 2019 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.