Here is an uplifting thought–right now, this very second, you are closer to your destiny. For a follower of Christ, that means one second closer to glory. Hallelujah! But, here is a sobering thought, are you one second closer to fulfilling God’s purpose in your life?
Many will say, I don’t know what God’s purpose for my life is, and the answer to that question is not an easy one. No one can answer it but you.
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (KJV)”
God clearly states that when we love Him, He can make everything end up in our favor–no matter what forks in the road we have taken. It says, ‘we know,’ that is, He will make us aware of our purpose through reading the Bible and by the Holy Ghost when you make Jesus the Lord of your life.
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
John 14:26 KJV
Romans 8:28 also shows that God has ‘called’ you. If you look up the word called you will see that it means invited, named, appointed, and assembled by order. It is no mistake that you know God because He calls on you to know Him! However, the promise of everything working for good is not for everybody. Only those who love God can receive it through the convincing power of the Holy Spirit. When a person turns to God as their source and turns away from worldly treasures, standing firm in their faith in God, they prove they know God is with them.
Now, let’s go to the way-back machine to the 1970’s. The Choose Your Own Adventure book series began, which is still around today. Oh, what a delight to read! When you open Cave of Time, or Journey Under the Sea, you have multiple page combinations that lead to multiple endings depending on the choices you made along the way. A book that keeps on giving!
These books clearly state that they are not ordinary and that YOU are in charge of where the story goes–your destiny. At the end of a page, you are directed to continue to a particular page or make a choice then go there depending on your decision; hours of fun and adventure before there was such a thing as video games or computers in every home. You could be leagues under the sea in seconds or stand on a rock inside a cave all in one day!
Reading the Bible is similar to the adventure books with a few differences. I have already read the end of the Bible, and we win, however, there is only one path to get there–Jesus. Our final destiny is to be in Heaven with Him. From a literary standpoint, we can see trials, and wars, and bad decisions, and the leading of the Lord revealed within its pages. When you go through the stories, you find similarities to mistakes you have made and advice on how to avoid troubles. You find stories of great success, and great defeat, and of wisdom and folly. When using the concordance, you can go a little deeper and find the connections between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Going even further, you can research words in the dictionary, and take it another step further; you can look up the ancient Hebrew and Greek root words within scripture. Now that’s an adventure!
Another thing is that we have someone with us when we read the Bible. The Lord is omniscient, knowing everything, and when we ask for wisdom, He freely gives it. You can read the same scripture for days and get something new out of it each time when you ask God to give you revelation.
The same goes for finding your purpose. God knows you better than you do! That is because He made you and called you for His purpose. Be attentive as you read or study or when you fellowship with God and He will open your mind up to receive it.
Believers, by the very nature within them, are all moving through their own stories to reach Heaven. Everyone receives a book with blank pages and the same exact amount of time in a day, but not everyone’s book will have the same number of words on the pages. One person may choose not to acknowledge God and only have their name on the front of the book while others, who want to follow God, will have chapters written. This comparison is not so that you will think you are in competition with another believer to fill up pages in your book; the comparison is so you can reflect on where your walk with God is going and come to realize you have many pages of possible words left in front of you.
Never think for a moment that someone else’s purpose is greater or lesser than yours. God made each of us for HIS purpose; that means each one is special, unique, and was chosen by God. How can you be in competition with someone’s gift? Only when you do not realize the gift placed in you is priceless in the eyes of God and will help to lead you to your destiny while you are here.
So, next time you pick up your Bible, take a moment and pray, asking God to take you on an adventure in the Word. Never forget, as you are adding another sentence to your book, God is helping you write it to reveal His glory in the world. And when we get to the last page, it won’t say, “You did it!” it will say, “Jesus did it all!”
Feature images: Bigstock.com | Unless otherwise attributed, scripture quotations are taken from the KING JAMES VERSION of the Bible.
