A thought by Charles R. Swindoll, from his book, Jesus: 09 (Great Lives Series) (p. 56). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)
Charles goes on, ". . . existentialists and self-help gurus are wrong about that. I learned years ago that following a call—fulfilling one’s purpose—isn’t that complicated and it isn’t as mysterious as it sounds. It begins with a realization that God has created each person with a unique design and a special purpose."
He says, "Unfortunately, sin and selfishness make fulfilling that purpose impossible. Sin creates a barrier between our divine design and our ordained path, creating a tension that can be excruciating. Life becomes meaningless; a drab, colorless, pointless existence in which even pleasure and success bring no satisfaction. But that gnawing hunger for meaning can also create the opportunity and means for God to heal our sin-sick souls and put us on the right path."
He continues, "[Martin] Luther struggled for salvation because none of his piety, none of his good deeds, none of the penance he paid or the rituals he followed would satisfy his longing to be justified before God. That hunger led him to discover from his reading of Scripture that a right relationship with God cannot be earned or deserved because we can never work enough or become good enough to earn His favor. Only God, who gave us a design and a purpose, can ease the tension between them by removing the problem of sin.
"As Peter, Andrew, and John labored all night in vain to fill their nets with fish, they came to realize that life apart from their calling would always come up empty. They had left on a journey to dig out their calling 'from under the rubble of ignorance and confusion' and discovered they could never turn back. But neither could they ease the tension between design and purpose by merely switching careers or chasing religious knowledge or fighting for the right cause. There, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, the men lived in a gray twilight of limbo."
Charles says, "Fortunately, Jesus didn’t leave them—or any of us—without hope or direction. Where we fail, Jesus has succeeded. The only One who was able to recognize and follow His purpose from the beginning was Jesus. He alone was able to obey consistently and please God completely. And His divine mission was to make a way for each of us to do the same.
He then says, "Jesus has prepared the way and has made following our destiny possible, whereas we are helpless by ourselves. We can find and fulfill our purpose by responding to the clear, simple call of Jesus Christ: 'Follow Me.' He is the doorway to fulfilling our destiny, where our divine design and God-ordained purpose live in perfect harmony."
And that is what we really need to see and then want, isn't it? Yes, yes! #continuethought
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