The Purpose Of Life

For far too many of us Christians, there isn't much difference between who we were before we met Jesus and who we are since meeting Jesus. There is something wrong with this picture because one of the signs of salvation is a changed life. Sure, we go to church now. We are learning to sing worship songs. We may have even gotten involved with a prayer meeting or a Bible Study but our perspective and attitude are still the same. We just don't see any difference.

What is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of following Jesus? What makes the difference?

The difference happens when it is a sincere response to Jesus' great act of love and grace. It is a sincere response to the Father calling us. It is a sincere response to the Holy Spirit's conviction of our sin. It is a heart response because of Jesus. It is also the realization and acceptance in that moment that things have to change, that we have to change, and it is a surrender to the Spirit to allow that change to happen.

What I dislike is when we make it out to be about what we can do. We turn it into a self-help program where we try to change ourselves. The only place that gets us is the disappointment of failed conformity. Jesus does not want us to conform but to allow him to transform us into his character. He does that through conviction, circumstances, people, the Bible, a changed perspective. It doesn't happen all at once but is more a series of practical life lessons that we progress through until we are called home. We never stop needing to grow.

The important thing to realize is what Jesus was talking about in John 6:27 as he explained the purpose of life:

Don’t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal of approval on Him. 

Yes indeed, we have been given a new set of principles and a new perspective. Study to learn the principles of the Kingdom and allow the Spirit to change your perspective. Cooperate, seek it, ask for it, knock and you will see the changes. Don't be content where you are, desire more of the Spirit, but don't try to do it yourself. There is an incredible thing the Spirit is doing in you, a supernatural thing that you need to give him room to do. Your part is to seek it out, to pursue the things of the Kingdom, which are foreign in this world, and then trust. Trust even when it doesn't make sense.

Just don't stay where you are. Don't accept the non-change. Don't be content with the status quo. Jesus saved you for so much more than what we are settling for in this world. Hear his voice as he calls you to deeper things.