Living with Eternal Purpose

Many people wander aimlessly through life without purpose. They have no guiding sense of direction or calling that helps them prioritize their time, investments, or day-to-day decisions on what to do and what not to do. They just kind of drift along with the flow.

Despite the busy-ness of necessary and self-imposed demands, without finding meaning to their labor or existence, life soon feels futile and hopeless.

Why am I here? Who am I? What’s the point? Whatever.

Is there more to life than this? Does my work really matter in the end? How can I find significance and satisfaction? What’s going to happen when I die?

If you’re asking questions like these, I would suggest to you that it’s because God has created you for a purpose, and until you discover it, you’ll continue to drift like a ship lost at sea.

The writer of the book of Ecclesiastes addressed many of these same concerns. Indeed, he explored and indulged in everything life had to offer – work, wealth, women, wine, wisdom, power, possessions, prominence – he pursued it all and had it all. Yet, he found everything meaningless in the end, a “chasing after the wind” as he describes it (Ecc. 1:14).

But the story doesn’t end in futility or despair. And yours doesn’t have to, either.

See, we’ve been created by a loving God who has “set eternity in the hearts of men” (Ecc. 3:11). We are created by Him and for Him, and if we spend our lives seeking the things of the world apart from Him, then we’ll reach the same pointless conclusion as “The Preacher” of Ecclesiastes: “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless” (Ecc. 1:2).

But when we seek the Lord with all our hearts, loving Him, trusting Him, obeying Him, following Him, then we’ll truly find fullness of life like the bright sunlight breaking through the gloom of a dreary sky.

Friend, you were made in the image of God with a deep craving in your heart to know Him! Not just to know about Him, but to know Him in a genuine love-relationship that gives true purpose and meaning to everything in this life and in the life to come.

The Bible tells us that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

In Jesus, there is peace that passes all understanding. In Jesus, there is joy that words cannot express. In Jesus, there is hope that remains unshakeable. In Jesus, there is new, abundant, and eternal life. In Jesus, there is purpose in everything under the sun because we live no longer for ourselves but for Him – the One who died for us and was raised to life.

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecc. 12:13).

Isn’t it time you started living life with eternal purpose?