The importance of understanding purpose\\Christie Wilson

The enjoyment of something comes when it is used for its intended purpose.

I’ve always been a person who wants to have a reason for everything I do.  I want to understand the purpose behind it.  Primarily because when I understand the purpose of something and keep “purpose” as the focus, it keeps mediocrity and complacency from setting in.

Lately, my quest for knowing and understanding the purpose behind things has caused me to re-evaluate my life somewhat.  And it seems that when I start down this path, things (aka, clutter) start getting cleaned out (thus the pile of garage sale items piled in the back of our house).  I start asking myself why I do the things I do.  Did God instruct me to do this?  Is what I’m doing in His word?  Is it fruitful?  The list goes on.

As I sift through these things, habits, activities, and behaviors, it’s not uncommon for me to realize that, of this “clutter,” much of these items did not start out this way.  But because I lost focus on their intended purpose, they became dead weight in my life.

Often, in the church world, we classify this clutter as “tradition,” as if the tradition itself is the dead weight.  Even when we say the word, all sorts of negative connotations arise in our mind.  However, traditions by definition are inherently positive beliefs handed down from generation to generation to establish cultural continuity.  The negative connotation comes when we focus on the activity of tradition rather than the purpose behind the tradition; when we make tradition the prerequisite for God to move (i.e., God only moves when we pray a certain way or sing a certain type of music).  Godly mandates and traditions are abused and rendered powerless only when we forget or misinterpret their original purpose.  In fact, most things in life, when void of purpose, are abused.

A simple example to illustrate my point is food…a basic necessity for sustaining life.  The purpose of food is to fuel our bodies with energy so they will function the way God intended.  Food is to the body what gas is to a car.  A car must have gas to function; however, a car was made to hold only a certain amount of gasoline.  If you have ever found yourself daydreaming while pumping gas, you quickly realize that when your tank is full, it has no problem ejecting the excess.  This is costly, dangerous, and messy.  You cannot overfill a gas tank.  Conversely, when it is empty, the car will cease to function until it is filled again.

Our bodies were made in a similar fashion.  They were made to hold a certain amount of food.  They were made to operate properly (as God intended) with certain types of food.  What happens is we forget or misinterpret the purpose of food and thus we abuse it—whether it be through over indulgence manifested through gluttony and obesity or under indulgence manifested through eating disorders such as anorexia.

If you’re like me, you want to enjoy your food.  Enjoyment, however, was not the initial purpose of food.  Providing our bodies with energy and proper nutrients was God’s intended purpose so that we can do the work (worship) of the Lord.

The enjoyment of something comes from understanding it’s purpose and allowing it to function in and for that purpose (this can be said of most things i.e., money, children, work, church, etc.).

Bringing it back to a more Biblical example, let’s take a look at the Israelite’s response to the Law or the Ten Commandments.  God gave the Israelites a set of rules and laws to follow based on their plea that God not speak with them directly for fear of death (Exodus 20:19).  So rather than “be near” a God they were afraid of, a God who called them His “special treasure,” the Israelites said they would rather “do” anything He asked of them.  They thought by adhering strictly to the law, God would be pleased with them and that would be enough.  They viewed the purpose of the law as a means to get close to God without ever having an encounter with Him.

But God’s purpose for establishing the law was to reveal man’s sinful nature (Romans 3:20); to reveal man’s need for a Savior—our need for relationship.  And this brings us to our original purpose for being created: To rule with God via relationship with Him.

For every believer, this purpose is the same.  We all have been given various talents, abilities, and callings to fulfill this purpose; however, our purpose is singular.  What happens when this purpose is misunderstood, abused, or ignored altogether?  Powerlessness.

Paul warns Timothy about having a form of godliness, while denying its power.  This reminds me of the Israelites again…that’s what they wanted…a way to “appear” holy, without ever having to commit their heart to God.  To enjoy the benefits of being “God’s special treasure” while never enjoying God Himself.

Look at what this cost them—time, energy, life, family, and for some, the promise.  When I look at this story from an objective point of view, I don’t see a God who dictated rules and regulations to frustrate His people.  Rather, I see a God who took pleasure in His people and desperately desired to be close to them.  His purpose was for them to become His children (Ephesians 1:5); to bring Him pleasure (Revelation 4:11).

And often I find myself in the same place as the Israelites—forgetting God’s purpose for creating me.  Striving to “do” rather than seeking to please.

Striving = law.  Seeking = relationship.

Our purpose is for His pleasure.

And all else, in my mind, flows from understanding and living this one thing.

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