A SINGLE PURPOSE

1 Chronicles 12:19-14:17; Romans 1:1-17; Psalm 9:13-20; Proverbs 19:4-5

“All these men came in battle array to Hebron with the single purpose of making David the king over all Israel.”

“You are among those who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. God loves you dearly, and he has called you to be his very own people. May grace and peace be yours through God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“The nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others. Their own feet have been caught in the trap they set.”

Many of us struggle trying to decipher the purpose of our lives. Does God intend leadership, service, teaching or what as our inheritance from Him? We spend so much time considering our options we sometimes lose sight of the goal completely. We have so many alternatives we can spend virtually forever in “fixin’ to” mode. The Holy Spirit never intended life to be so complicated. To be sure, there are those who take refuge in the choices, pretending a befuddlement when the real intent is simply to avoid a commitment. Others are genuinely perplexed. However complex or multi-faceted the question seems from our view, though, Christ makes it simple: “Follow me.”

This, of course, raises another question. What does it really mean to follow Jesus? Paul shares his ideas in a variety of places, but never more eloquently than in the first chapter of Romans:

You are among those who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. God loves you dearly, and he has called you to be his very own people. May grace and peace be yours through God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pretty clearly, the first step is to respond to and accept the Lord’s call to belong. So much in this world isolates and ostracizes, we can get in the habit of being alone and forget what it feels like to belong to anyone or anything besides ourselves. That’s not how we were created, though. Our Creator designed us to work as a Body, together, with each part performing an appointed task but the whole magnifying its benefits far beyond anything we could accomplish on our own.

Second, we don’t just belong. We belong to the Savior. This is no small thing. When the Father of the universe tells us we are to be His, there’s an irrevocable security in the declaration we are foolish to ignore or understate. In case we don’t get it, Scripture fleshes it out by reminding us of Abba’s peculiar, particular love for each one of us and repeating for emphasis that we are to be His very own people.

The end result is grace and peace. That’s always the result of reconciliation and trust. When we surrender to God’s Will for our lives, we align our individual purposes with the purposes of the universe itself, and we go from being part of the problem to part of the solution. It’s worth repeating that the entire process begins with belonging.

In this world of multitasking and high speed everything, it is easy to lose our moorings. When we are uprooted by changes in our lives, it can be hard to ever regain our footing. We founder from one task to another, hoping to rediscover an anchor that will help us reestablish stability. We try various things, but none satisfy. It’s time for a different approach. We can’t tell where we will be next year, or even next month, but we can say for sure Who will be with us, and Who will be our King. Like the Hebrews at Hebron, we need to develop a single purpose that transcends all the uncertainty and competition that consumes our lives. We need to do what we can to reestablish the King’s dominion over our souls and bodies. If we will open our hearts and minds to His presence, understanding His purpose for us will be essentially automatic. Our will shall become His; our thoughts His thoughts. That kind of single mindedness could be a very positive thing indeed.