Day 1: What is Your Purpose for Living?

There is hardly anything more tragic in human life than aimlessness. I’ve often said to peoplein this connection, "If you aim at nothing, you may be sure you’ll hit it." You may have talent, intelligence, and special abilities,but – without an objective – you will accomplish very little of permanent value, and you will probably end in frustration.

So let me start by asking you this question. Do you have an objective in life? Are you clearabout it? Do you know what it is? Or are you perhaps just drifting? Carried hither and thither by the winds and the waves – the winds of habitand fashion – the waves of circumstances over which you have no control?

It is one ofthe greatest benefits and blessings of the Christian life as God planned it: it provides each one of us with an objective for living. That will be the theme of these devotionals: Objective for Living – as it’s provided for us by our faith in Christ.

Let us start byreading Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, to find our first picture of theChristian life and its objective:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders andthe sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (NIV)

There are many important truths there, which we will consider in the next few days. But let’s notice, first of all, that the Christian life is a race – a race marked out for us. It’s already marked out in advance. We do not have to mark the course out – that’s already been done for us. But it’s up to us to run the race. How can we best do that? That is something we will explore in the rest of this series.