"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." (I Corinthians 10:30)

"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ." (Colossians 3:23-24)

If everything you have today were taken from you - your home and possessions, your job, your money, the ability to do your favorite things, your relationships with friends and family - would you still feel as though your life had purpose?

If your hope for attaining something in the future - lots of good friends, a certain socio-economic status, a good marriage, healthy and well-adjusted children, a significant career position, healing from a disease or illness - is completely dashed or is diminished over time, would you still be able to retain a sense of purpose?

There's no doubt that grieving would accompany such losses. Any one of those would justify a season of grief and sadness. But would your sense of meaning and purpose remain intact?

If your sense of worth is based on any of those things, then it's inevitable that your life would seem empty and senseless if you no longer had it. But if your purpose is based on something greater than any of them - something that cannot be taken from you - then no matter what happens, your life will have purpose and meaning.

The key to living a meaningful life no matter our circumstances is to base our life's purpose in living it for the Lord Jesus. It means that no matter what we find ourselves doing, that we do it in such a way that brings honor to Him. We need to do our jobs as though we were working for the Lord Himself, because we are. We need to relate to others as though we were relating to Christ Himself, because we are. We need to live our private lives as though Jesus Himself were right there with us, because He is.

I recently heard a sermon by Rich Nathan, pastor of Vineyard Church of Columbus, in which he said that the purpose of every Christian is "to live a life that can't be explained except for Jesus." If a co-worker sees the joy on your face while you work at a distasteful task, or observes your respectful response to an impossible-to-please boss, or notes your lack of bitterness despite a great injustice done to you, that's living in such a way that can't be explained except for the fact that you are living for Jesus.

Are you living your life in such a way? If you are, you've found a meaning and purpose in life that can never be taken away!

If you aren't, the good news is that finding your life's purpose is as simple as making the decision, moment by moment, that everything you do will be for Jesus!

© 2009 Fern Horst

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