Day 1 | What's my purpose?

Reflection

Thud. The front door closes behind you. It’s a winter’s morning, and you’re out of the house before the sun’s up. The cold air bites at your face and you think about the day ahead of you.

You’re off to begin your day at work: handling tasks, dealing with people – all the usual things. Then catching up and laughing over an encouraging lunch with a friend. Afternoon turns to evening, and you’re home cooking dinner for the family. You sit around the table and hear about everyone’s days. After the washing up’s finished, you think about either a run or some Netflix – probably Netflix. And then you notice the next-door neighbour’s putting his bins out and remember to do yours as well, having a chat with him as you do. Before long, you fall asleep.

An ordinary day, perhaps. But with Christ, the things that fill up the hours in our day can be more significant than we ever dreamed.

In On Purpose, we want to help you see your daily life through God’s eyes. In every part of your life, he invites you to reimagine how you view the things you’re already doing and to partner with him in his purposes for creation.

Turning to today’s Scripture, Jeremiah writes to a nation in turmoil. Invasion from a foreign power and deportation are turning the lives of the people of Israel upside down. And so he gives them instructions for what they are to do:

1. Seek shalom, right where they are (v7)
2. Remain faithful and undistracted (v8–9)
3. Find ways to join in God's work to create and restore (v5–6)

God’s people, once secure in Israel, are now exiles in Babylon: strangers in a strange land. The values, customs, and beliefs are not their own. Perhaps you can relate? The church in the Western world finds itself increasingly on the margins of a culture it helped create. But however confused the present time feels, God’s command is not to hide away and simply weather the storm.

Rather, his instructions to the Israelites are deeply foundational. He calls us to recover the core of what it means for God’s people to be made in his image. Because as they follow these directives, God’s people truly bless him, their neighbours, and nature, and also flourish themselves.

Today, all of us have exactly the same invitation. In our working and resting, we are people of the risen Christ in a land that does not know him. And we’re called to seek shalom, remain faithful, and join in with God in his great work of creation and restoration.

Father, wherever I am and whatever I’m doing, help me see the opportunities to work for peace and prosperity, remain faithful, and join in alongside you in creating and restoring. Amen.