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“Being a means to an end is what gives things meaning.”

A thought by Andy Stanley from his book, Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World (p. 27). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

That makes sense or does it?

Andy says, “Purpose. If you refuse to become a means to an end, your life will never have meaning. That’s the meaning of meaning. Live for yourself and you’ll only have yourself to show for yourself. Become a means to an end and your life takes on . . . meaning. Funerals teach us this. Funerals remind us that the value of a life is always measured by how much of it was given away.”

Andy then says, “God created the nation of Israel as a means to a divine end. He created the nation for a global purpose. God’s global plan for the nation was first announced long before there was a nation. Around 2067 BC, God promised ninety-nine-year-old Abraham a son who would become a nation that would bless the world. The entire world.”

Andy goes on, “God promised Abraham he would make his ‘name great.’ That’s Bible speak for ‘I’ll make you famous.’ (Genesis 12:2 (MSB) I’m guessing this isn’t the first time you’ve heard of Abraham. So there you go. Promise kept. But here’s the real news: and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:2-3)

“We can’t imagine how ridiculous that sounded to a man with no people standing in the middle of nowhere. But that promise initiated a chain of events that would roll out over the course of about two thousand years. In addition to the unimaginable scope of this promise, there was something historically peculiar about it as well.”

If you read the Old Testament you will see the good and bad of these people but as you read the first chapters of the New Testament you will see that Israel was the means for God’s Son to enter our world.  

And God has created you and me as a means to an end.  He has a plan and a purpose that fits just us.  Now that is exciting to me.  How about you?  Have you given him control of your life, so you will live out that purpose that he has for you?  Have you found that being the means to an end that God has for you is giving meaning to your life?  Have you?


Yes, yes!
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