Ultimate Purpose

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

(John 17:3, NKJV)

In our daily lives, we focus on many things and in my own situation, I realize that I tend to deal with what is urgent for the moment.  It is as if there isn’t enough time to do all what one would want to do, so that we are left to handle only what is calling for attention and cannot wait.  Unfortunately, this could become our approach to life, so that all we do and seek to complete is what gives us immediate satisfaction and we take little note of what we would want to do in future.  The management gurus say that the fact that something is urgent does not necessarily mean that it is important.  When we do not consider whether something is important and go only with what is urgent, we are busy all day but with little to show for results.

Many books have been written and stories told of times when human being have wondered what is of actual importance in life.  Many speakers, writers and coaches tell of discovering what one’s purpose is in life and this is something we all seek to understand.  There is an innate desire to know that our lives have a greater purpose beyond the day to day activities.  We are all looking for the essence of our lives and yes, each one of us has a purpose to achieve according to God, that is the reason for our existence.  Our reference verse comes from a chapter where Jesus prayed for His disciples and all those who would believe in Him.  Jesus knew who He was and what His mission was, He also knew that those who followed Him would find trouble in the world for though they live in the world, they are not of the world (John 17:15-16).  Jesus pleaded with the Father for our lives as believers, being one who understood what it meant being on earth, we feel the love of the Master as we read this passage.  Jesus recognizing that His time to go back to the Father was at hand, we see Him passing on to us all what He had: His joy (Vs. 13); God’s word (Vs. 14); sanctification by God’s truth (Vs.19); God’s glory (Vs.22); His love (Vs.26) and a prayer to be with Him where He would be (Vs. 24).  Beloved, this is a passage to soak in and find encouragement for our faith journey.

As I meditated on this chapter, our reference verse struck me for the clarity with which Jesus stated the purpose of His life on earth and that was to bring eternal life to us and to all who believed in Him.  Many could explain what eternal life is but Jesus defines it Himself as: knowing God the Father as the only true God; and knowing Jesus Christ as His son whom He sent to the earth.  My brother and sister, I do not know what your definition of life eternal is or what your most important purpose is, but I invite you to consider Jesus’ definition.  What is most important is to know the only true God and Jesus His son.  In light of this understanding all other things are secondary, the beginning point must be the ultimate purpose of our lives as given by Jesus Himself.  As we sit in this realization, we also note that Jesus in the same passage prayed that those who believed in Him would in turn continue with what He was doing on earth. Just as Jesus was sent by the Father to the world, He also sent us into the world (Vs.18), not to do our own things but to do His work.  We therefore have been called to let others know eternal life as given by Jesus, that all would know the Father as the only true God and Jesus Christ His Son.  Brethren, our work is cut out for us, we are not doing it on our own strength for our Master prayed us through it, equipping us with Himself.  We have no excuse, let us get on with it now!!.

Thoughts:

What is of greatest importance to you?

How have you experienced eternal life?

Are you continuing the Master’s message of eternal life?  If not, what is holding you back?