Day 1: It All Starts with God

Hopefully this will be the only other entry with explanations amongst the thoughts and reflections. At least until I'm done with The Purpose Driven Life, the titles of the entry will correspond with the book chapter names (amazing how that works, no?). Also, I'll probably be quoting different parts of this text, and I don't really remember MLA or APA very well, so hopefully the Copyright Police don't notice me. There will probably be Bible verses in here too, but I'm pretty sure I'm safe as long as there are book, chapter, and verse, and what good would me using Bible verses if I didn't tell you where they came from anyway??

PS- if ever you need to cite the Bible for a research project, there are ways.

At the end of each day's reading, there is a "Point to Ponder," a "Verse to Remember," and a "Question to Consider." You will be seeing these, and again, as these aren't mine but the book's, I thought I should warn you.

Finally (I hope), there is a theme for each week. The first is "What on Earth am I here for?" So, for the next 7 days, this is the overall idea/question being addressed. There are also study questions for each theme, and I'm not sure how I'm going to address those yet. I might put them in the last entry for the week, or maybe use them as the ultimate reflection after this series is done, or who knows. I've got 6 more days to figure that out, right?

~~~~~
Okay. Hopefully I haven't lost you yet. Without further rambling, let's explore Day 1. . . .

The thing that struck me first was an opening quote from Bertrand Russell, a philosopher from the late 19th Century/early 20th Century era:

"Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless." I found a variety of other quotes by said person. Interesting things (many of which Ayn Rand would heartily disagree), but ultimately this is the viewpoint of a self proclaimed atheist (no seriously, check it out; I did my research. Go down about 2/3 of the page to the "Proof of God" section. And if you're into philosophy, check the whole thing out; it's definitely interesting).


How do we define purpose? Think about something simple, like shoes. What are the purpose of shoes? Well, to protect our feet, clearly. But does the existence of the shoe preceed its use, or did someone finally get tired of stubbing their toes and invent the shoe for the PURPOSE of protecting their feet? I don't think ancient societies found sandals and other feet coverings growing on trees, and assuming this website is at least somewhat accurate, shoes were indeed created for a purpose.

My whole point in that illustration was that if we make things to fill a purpose, doesn't logic tell us we also were made with a purpose? Now, that assumes that you agree that some being created us. I personally have a hard time believing that the universe, in all its vastness and minute detail, just "happened" with no controlling force behind it. The Earth just happens to be the only planet on which living things can exist? The human body (which, btw, has only ±1.5 °F of room for its core temperature to fluxuate before considered "unhealthy"), with all its intricate systems, nerves, organs, tissues, just happens to be set up in a perfect configuration? I don't buy it. I don't think that two "parallel universes" collided and formed our universe (the union of String Theory and the Big Bang Theory- sorry no website on this one, but I spent a good deal of time in HS looking at String Theory on my own, and that is one of the things that stuck with me), nor that life developed from self replicating organisms in a primodial soup (I DO have a website that I haven't fully explored but looks very interesting; it proposes Intelligent Design at the very least. I don't think it is specifically Christian, but it's something). So at the very least, grant me the premise that there is SOMETHING else out there, be it the Christian concept of God or otherwise. Or show me scientific evidence that tells us how things came to be.


On a side note, I love this (from the ID website): "Creationism is different from intelligent design because it is based on the existence axiom. Existence axiom: God exists." Granted, this is meant to be an argument/seperation between "Intelligent Design" and "Creationism," but hey; I'm trying to get this back on topic. If the "Intelligent Designer" created us, then by reason there must be a purpose.


So, we were created by something for a reason. I can dig that. Let's go back to the shoes: do we ask the shoes what they are for? Of course not! We made them and we know exactly why we made them; to protect our feet.

Also, if we were created by some greater thing than us, why are we trying to find purpose by looking inside ourselves? Shouldn't we be looking to the Creator (again, if you don't want to accept the existence of my God, then at least whatever being out there) to discover our purpose?

And what good would it be for us to create (or buy, I doubt anyone reading is a cordwainer) shoes if we were never to wear them? No one goes out and gets a pair of Keds (I don't know why Keds, it just popped into my head) to have them sit in their box for all eternity, or until the moths eat them. So clearly we weren't created just to exist, but to fulfill some purpose.

The book uses the example of an invention that comes with an instruction manual (the invention being humans, the inventor being God, and the instruction manual being the Bible, of course). I don't think I can add to that, but it resonates with me.

Two short quotes that pretty much sum up the mess above: "You were made by God and for God- and until you understand that, life will never make sense." And: "Focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose."

So now that I've rambled a lot, here are the three things I warned you about at the beginning of this entry-

Point to Ponder: It's not about me.
It's so easy, especially in today's society, to be selfish. We're always told that we have to look out for ourselves. Do what's best for us. Keep climbing until you get to the top of the ladder, whether it's family, work, social circle, whatever. I propose a slight twist of perspective on this: In looking out for ourselves, shouldn't we take the guidance of He who created us? And what could be better for our lives than to offer them up to the One who made us, for His use and our mutual pleasure in being granted life and the freedom to participate? Why aren't we busy climbing the spiritual ladder? I don't mean that to sound as if we can step our way up to heaven, but shouldn't we be in constant pursuit of a life in which we worship a God that is good, a God who created us, a God who gives us everything we have, a God who offered up His Son as a sacrifice so that we might choose the freedom of forgiveness? Let me tell you, I'm finding this ladder to be the most difficult and yet the most rewarding ladder I've ever attempted to ascend. And I know that it doesn't lead to Heaven, 'cause I got that ticket a while ago, but the treasure to be found on the way up. . . man. On one side I wish I had been living like this since I was 7 years old, understanding more and more as I grew older. I wish the whole McGee situation had never happened, and that I wouldn't have become disillusioned with the Church. I wish I hadn't spend my 4 years of college acknowledging God in my life, and yet choosing not to live for Him. "Thanks for that whole salvation thing, but I'm pretty much gonna do what I feel like until things get horrible, and then I'll turn tail and head back to you." OK, it wasn't exactly like that.
But on the other side, God has a plan, and I believe that things happened in my life up to this point the way they did so that now I have no doubt in my mind the existence, power, and love of God. The defiant adolescent finally comes around to realize how childish he's been acting. It's time for me to start becoming a man of God. And that means that it's not really about me and what I can do, but giving everything in my life over to Him and participating in what He will do with me and through me.

Verse to Remember: Colossians 1:16b "Everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him." -The Message
Here it is in NIV (not that I don't like The Message, but I think being raised on NKJV and now going through the Bible in its entirety in NIV, The Message just seems strange in that it's. . . well. . . normal words and phrases haha)- "All things were created by Him and for Him."
Unfortunately, while my Life Application Bible has interesting notes, they aren't related to the topic, and I need to stop birdwalking and finish this entry.
(But I have to share this because it just happened: I was looking to see the official name of this Bible, and I discovered that my Sunday School class wrote little congratulatory notes and verses in the front couple pages. They are such awesome people :) but I can't believe I just found those. Go me).
So, again, ultimately if we accept the Bible as God's instruction manual, then all the verses from this chapter (Job. 12:10, Roman 8:6 (I LOVE Romans), Matt. 16:25, 1 Cor. 2:7, Eph. 1:11, and the one being discussed) have some kind of life application. Granted, that's almost like circular reasoning. . . I think. . . I've been typing for over an hour and haven't eaten dinner, so yeah. . . God tells us in the Bible that He created us with a purpose in mind. The end.

Question to Consider: In spite of all the advertising around me, how can I remind myself that life is really about living for God, not myself?
For me, that comes ultimately from what Pastor Dan talked about this morning: the greatest commandment (Matt 22:34-40) is to love God with EVERYTHING (heart, soul, and mind). That means that no matter what I am doing (reading, working out, listening to music, teaching, talking on the phone, you get the idea), I should be doing it as an act of worship to God. Does that mean I shouldn't watch movies, listen to music, or read books with "inappropriate content"? Yep. That's a challenge. But again, I feel there's irrefutable evidence that I should give everything over to God. He's loaning to us everything we have, be it money, family, time, whatever you want to quantify, it's all His. So ultimately I need to keep what a worshipful lifestyle looks like in my head, and THEN LIVE IT. "Think only that which points towards God and away from the world" should be my life motto. I think this blog will help in pursuit of that lifestyle. I've seen/felt God work in my life already, and it was AWESOME. Why aren't I always living that way?



The time for change is now. 2010, I am planning to approach you with a purpose.

God's purpose.