Gratitude by Cornelius PlantingaSample

Day Five: Live with Purpose

Scripture: Isaiah 2:2-4, 35:8-10, 65:17-19, 1 Corinthians 15:58

For our last day, I want to talk about something close to the heart of every thoughtful person—namely, how to live with purpose in the world, to get up in the morning and look forward to doing something constructive.

All kinds of people have all kinds of purposes for their lives, conscious or not. They want to be happy. They’d like to get rich. They’d like to be admired. Some want to be envied. Some of these goals are of doubtful worth, but many others are perfectly healthy. It’s perfectly healthy to hope for fulfilling work because it brings real goods and services to the world. It’s healthy to want to cultivate a network of good friends or to raise a flourishing family. When our purposes are healthy, and God fulfills them, our natural response is thankfulness.

We Christians have a supreme purpose, one that Jesus gave us: “Strive first for the kingdom of God” (Matt. 6:33). Following Jesus in this commission gives a huge reason for gratitude. What’s more, many other purposes fit inside this uber-purpose. Finding fulfilling work, raising a thriving family, cultivating a network of friends—these and many other purposes fit inside our supreme purpose.

Those living with kingdom purpose have been penetrated by the Spirit of God. We can tell. They love God. They love their neighbors. Even when they don’t like their neighbors, they love them by treating them well. They hunger for justice. They read Scripture with an appetite and ponder it with respect. They hate cruelty and join efforts to oppose it. They love kindness and support groups that show it. They know that God’s kingdom project is to make things right in the world, and they want to be part of that project.

How does this shape us as His followers? One day God will fill the earth with justice, harmony, and delight. This is the blessed state of shalom, of universal flourishing, wholeness, and joy—all according to God’s purpose and all under the arch of God’s blessing and love. Shalom is the Hebrew way of spelling the full coming of the kingdom of God. Christians believe that God will one day make shalom happen, so they gather, work, and partner with a shared purpose.

As Christians accept Jesus’s commission, we will never run out of good things to do.

Fulfilling our purpose in life, we will feel needed.

Feeling needed, we will feel valuable.

Feeling valuable, we will feel grateful.

Prayer: Gracious God, your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Show me my role inside your kingdom and enable me to fill it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.