"Why was I created?"  "Why am I here on earth?"  "What does the Lord want me to do with my life?" 
These questions and many similar ones are being asked every day by young people.  "Life purpose" has become a real catch-phrase in Christian circles and a very popular subject.  A quick Google search for books on life purpose revealed a whole myriad of resources and teachings geared specifically towards the subject -- 66,900,000 results, to be exact.  Here are just a few of the book titles I saw being offered:  The Life You Were Born to Live,  The Purpose Driven Life,  Live Your Dream,  Life On Purpose,  An Inner Journey: Living Your Life Purpose.  There were many more book titles, websites,  counseling helps…even information on life purpose coaching centers!  The sad thing is that much of this information and teaching about life purpose is humanistic, unbiblical and thoroughly wrong philosophy.  My question is: What does God say about life purpose, or life callings, or life ministry, or whatever you want to call it?
        It is important to understand your purpose in life. If you don't have a purpose, life is aimless and pointless.  Purpose in life is like a map that keeps you from getting lost and points you to the right direction. If you don't have a purpose, you will inevitably get off on the wrong path.
        It is grieving to see great numbers of young people just wandering through daily life without a purpose.  If you ask them why they are here on the earth they just shrug, say "I don't know," or give you a blank stare.  Others are anxious to know their life purpose, but have been duped into believing that their life purpose must be "discovered" through a long and complicated process.  For most young people, thinking about life purpose is frightening.  Questions flood their minds -- "What if I choose something I'll get tired of?"  "What if I pray and wait, and God never shows me what He wants me to do?"  "How can I know it's what God wants me to do?"  "What if God wants me to do something hard or scary, or something I don't want to do?" 

        There is really nothing mysterious or frightening about life purpose.  Most people simply don't understand it.  Instead of "discovering"  life purpose,  we need to be uncovering the truth of God's Word about life purpose that has been there all along, and sharing it with the desperate and searching young people of today.
        
        Let's start with looking at what it means when we say "life purpose."  By saying that each of us has a life purpose, we are simply stating that God created us with a reason in mind.  He didn't create us for fun, or just to live our 70 years for our own pleasure.  He had a purpose in mind when He created YOU.  To be more specific, He has more than one reason or purpose for you.  There are actually 3 levels of life purpose.  These are the reasons God designed you and has placed you where you are today.

1. The Universal Purposes of Mankind
        In the beginning, after creating the heavens and the earth, the land, the sea, the birds, fish, animals, the sun, moon, stars, planets and plants and trees, God chose to create a very different creation…something very special and in His image.  God created man in His own image, breathed into him the breath of life and put a living soul in him.  This man was the crown of His creation, placed above all the animals, created with a never-dying spirit and gifted with great abilities far above the rest of the creation.  God obviously had something special in mind for this distinctive creation. So why did God create man? 
        
        I. For fellowship with Him.
                Why such a great, omnipotent and holy God would want to have fellowship with us is beyond human         comprehension.  We can only take Him at His Word and praise Him for His loving kindness!  The fact that God desires fellowship with us, His created beings, is clearly displayed by how the Lord seeks us when we stray from Him.  When Adam and Eve sinned, breaking that fellowship, God came to seek them in the cool of the day.  And even though all mankind was at enmity with Him, God sent His beloved Son to seek and save the lost and to         reconcile them to Himself.  The Lord yearns for us to be in complete and constant fellowship with Him.  He has provided a way for us to be one with His Son and to abide in Him at all times, keeping the fellowship unbroken. Another evidence of God's desire to fellowship with us is the way He provided an avenue for us to communicate with Him at all times…the blessed privilege of prayer.  Not only does God allow us to call upon Him and pour out our hearts before Him, He actually desires it! 
        Therefore, in order for man to truly fulfill his purpose, he must repent of the sin that separates him from His Creator and accept Christ's reconciliatory payment for that sin.  The fellowship God desires to have with us is only possible through Christ.        
        
        II. For His glory.
        "I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him." Is. 43:7
        "This people I have formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise."  Is.43:21 
        "That we should be to the praise of His glory…"         Eph. 1:12 
        "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His Name…" Ps. 96:8
                
        We have been created for the express purpose of glorifying, exalting and praising our Maker.  We are to ascribe honor and glory to Him and magnify His Name.  Scripture reveals several different ways to glorify God.
        ~Praise --"Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me…" Ps. 50:23  "Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify Him…" Ps. 22:23
        ~Sharing the mighty acts of the Lord -- "And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." Ps. 50:15
        ~Good works -- "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matt. 5:16
        ~Bringing forth fruit -- "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit…" John 15:8

        III. For His pleasure.
        "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power:  for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."  Rev.4:11  
        "All things were created by Him, and for Him." Col. 1:16
                
        We are included in God's creation, therefore we also have been designed for the purpose of pleasing God.  There is much that could be said about pleasing God and that subject matter alone could easily fill several articles.
        Christ is the only One who always pleased God.  "For I do always the things that please [the         Father]." John 8:29  "For even Christ pleased not Himself…" Rom. 15:3  "And a voice came from heaven,         which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased." Luke 3:22
        Apart from Christ, there is no way of pleasing God.  "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." Rom. 8:8
        The Lord is pleased with good works and fruit, just as He is glorified by them. "But to do good and to         communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." Heb. 13:16   "That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge         of God…" Col.         1:10
        The Lord is pleased by faith. "But without faith it is impossible to please Him…" Heb.11:6 
        The Lord is pleased when we keep His commandments. "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight." I John 3:22           "Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord." Col. 3:20 
        The Lord is pleased when we fear Him. "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope in His mercy." Ps. 147:11
        The Lord is not pleased or impressed with so many of the things we think are important.  Instead of trying         to gain approval from earthly sources, our goal and earnest desire should be to receive divine approval. 
        "For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ."  Gal 1:10

        IV.  To love Him.
        When asked what was the greatest commandment, Jesus promptly responded with: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." He went on to add the second greatest commandment,  loving our neighbor as ourselves, then uttered the startling statement that those 2 commandments are really the only commandments there are.  All the other commands fall directly under either category and are fulfilled by a complete, mature loving of God and our fellow men.  If we would just keep these 2 commandments, everything else would fall into place.  So if we're really going to get down to it, our whole life should be centered around these 2 areas.  Our real life purpose would be to love God and to love others.  And when we expand the idea of loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, we see that fellowshipping with Him, glorifying Him, and pleasing Him are completely intertwined with loving Him.  While we are specifically created for God's glory, for His pleasure, and to fellowship with Him, we are essentially created to love God with all that we are and have.  "O love the Lord, ye His saints…" Ps. 31:23 
                
        It is important to realize that the love of God IS keeping His commands (1 John 5:3, 2 John 1:6). Therefore our purpose in life also includes observing and obeying the commands of Christ.

        The first level of life purpose is general, all-inclusive and inescapable!  Whether you are saved or lost doesn't change it.  Nothing can exempt you from the real and fundamental reasons why you were formed individually, personally, and specifically by God.  This level of life purpose is definitely the most important, but so rarely considered!  When you ask a young Christian what his life purpose is, does he state earnestly that his goal in life is to please God, or glorify God, or love God?  The typical answer would be "I'm going to be a missionary" or "I believe the Lord wants me to work with the deaf" or "The Lord has called me to be a doctor."  Certainly the individual callings of God are important, but almost without exception these overshadow the real purpose of our lives, that which should be foremost in our thoughts and plans and daily living.  If we are not focusing on and fulfilling the primary purposes for which God created us, do our other plans and accomplishments really matter to God?

2.  The Specific (and very diverse!) Purposes of Male and Female
        The second stage of life purpose is also general, but divided between the sexes.  God created men for certain specific purposes and women for different functions.  These, too, have been widely neglected and rarely taken into consideration by Christians.  It is exciting to uncover these purposes and truly embrace this part of our purpose in life!

        I. Men  "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." Gen. 1:26

        ~The first purpose of man is Dominion, which means in the Hebrew to "tread down, reign, subjugate."  Man is the crown of God's creation and he has been given authority over it.  He is to use the earth and everything in it for his benefit, taking dominion and subduing the rest of the creation. 
        ~God specifically created and fashioned man for Leadership.  Women are created for men and needed by men, but the God has placed man at the head.  
        Family: "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church."  Eph. 5:23  "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God…For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.  Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man."  I Corinthians 11:3,8-9
        Church:  Paul, when sharing with Timothy and Titus the qualifications for church leadership, speaks specifically of male leadership.  Women have an important role in the church, but they are not to lead or to teach.  "Let the         women learn in silence with all subjection.  But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence."  I Timothy 2:11-12   The men are quite obviously the God-designated instruments to shepherd and lead the flock of believers.
        Government:  When Scripture speaks of civil authority, or elders of the land, it always refers to male leadership.  "Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness;  and place such to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, and rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: And let         them judge the people at all seasons…" Ex. 18:21.  "Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you." Deut. 1:13. 
        The word used for men in these verses does not mean "person."  It specifically means "male" (as opposed to female).

With these leadership positions come great responsibilites.  The husband and father receives the responsibility of the provider. (I Tim.5:8)   He is not only the breadwinner, but the protector, the spiritual leader and the one who ultimately answers to God for his family.  These God-given responsibilites and purposes should come directly after the first priority, which is the man's relationship with God.  So many men put ministry in front of the needs of their family.  That is absolutely wrong, and will be discussed more later.  A man's greatest ministry is the ministry he has to his family.  The husband is to be to the wife as Christ is to the church, loving her as he loves himself, washing her with the water of the Word, giving himself for her.  A father is to be actively involved in the teaching and discipleship of his children.  God places so much importance on the man's family roles and responsibilities that He declares that the way to know whether a man is qualified for church leadership is to look at how his family is doing.  In other words, a man's credentials for ministry are his family.  If he did a lousy job with his own family, you can expect the same in the church family.   If he has poured his life and his whole heart into his wife and children, leading with humility and wisdom and love, that is the way he will approach his ministry.  Until a man is fulfilling these fundamental purposes God created him for, he is not going to be very successful in other ministry or leadership positions.

        Sometimes God chooses to keep a man unmarried for special tasks, therefore he would not have the roles of leadership in a family setting.  But every man is created for the purposes of dominion and leadership, whether or not he is a husband and father. 
        The important thing to realize is that God is not impressed with anything that is apart from His purpose for your life, no matter how great or effective or exciting or productive it might be.  Nor is He pleased with anything that distracts or takes you away from these purposes.

        II. Women.  "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." Gen. 2:18
        Women were created with the same universal, foundational purposes as men, but there is one reason why God made a woman…for the man.  That's right.  God created women for men!  Women are created to be helpers because men need help.  (Gen. 2:18)  Woman was taken out of man, for man. 
        The role of the woman is to help, to support, to complete, and to bring success to the man.  Because men and women are so different, the gifts, skills, traits and perspectives of the woman are needed to help the man.  Women are to be able assistants, valued aides and loving companions for men.  The man is the leader - the woman is his helper.  There is nothing whatsoever in God's plan to suggest that one is better than the other.  We are simply different!  The functions of men and women are both needed.  God designed the man to be more practical, to function under pressure, to carry the load, to handle leadership positions, while He designed women as more emotional, with special gifts, and with a very different perspective.  God has given women special insight and intuition in areas that men usually overlook.  Women are created to be weaker than men, therefore the men are to protect them and provide for them. 
        Sadly, many women today have swallowed the lies of the modern feminist movement.  The feminists have rejected God's purpose for women.  Instead of being the helpers God intended them to be, they try to be rivals.  Instead of making their husband or father successful, they are out climbing the corporate ladder, fighting their own battles, obsessed with their own agenda.  Instead of fulfilling their God-given privileges and receiving the blessings that come with pursuing His plan, they are shouldering burdens God never designed them to bear.  It's sad to say it, but when a wife or mother forsakes her purpose in life, which is to help her husband and stay at home with her children, she will almost inevitably become disillusioned, depressed and stressed, and her family will suffer terribly from it. 
        God created women for specific roles and designed them with the abilities to fulfill those roles.  When women veer from the path of God's design for their lives, they will struggle because they have not been created for that purpose or for those pressures.
        What the feminists and many Christians today do not realize is the fact that men and women simply have different roles.  In God's eyes, male and female are equally loved, intelligent, and important.  Their purposes are equally important - and engrained in their very design.  You don't have to tell girls that they should play with dolls and have tea parties.  God places within every girl the instincts of motherhood, compassion, feminine graces, and the desire to be secure in the love and protection of male leadership.  On the other hand, boys don't have to be taught to like trucks and tractors, airplanes and toy soldiers.  God designs each male child with the instincts to protect, provide and conquer.  The roles are different.  The design is different. 
        I like to use the analogy of a car and a fishing boat.  Is one more important than the other?  No, but they're completely different.  You use a car to get you from one place to another, but is it less important because you can't use it on the lake?  Does the boat feel degraded because you don't try to drive to town in it?  Of course not.  The uses and functions of cars and boats are both important, but not interchangeable.  What if you decided that your car is every bit as good as a boat, therefore it can do what a boat can do -- and drove out into the lake one day?  The results would be disastrous, just as disastrous as it is today when women forsake their functions (which, by the way, are indispensable)  and try to take on the functions of men.  Just because you are equally important does not mean that you are equally equipped! 
        It is not degrading for a woman's only work to be the helper of her husband.  THAT IS HER CREATED PURPOSE! It is a wonderful and glorious purpose, a full-time job that is far more important in the eyes of her Creator than if she were to be the President of the United States -- because she is doing what He designed her to do!  A married woman will only be truly and completely fulfilled when she is pursuing her created purpose of helping her husband, managing her home and bringing up her children.  I can think of no greater, nobler or more influential position for a woman than this!  The home is the woman's sphere of influence and it is from the home that she serves and ministers and fulfills God's purposes for her.  Many women think that such would be a degrading, boring and slavish existence.  They don't realize how truly glorious it really is!  To be a valuable, trusted assistant to your husband, enabling him to be successful in fulfilling the vision God has given him and helping him to take dominion and subdue the earth…to be free to give help, assistance and counsel to those in need around you…to raise up mighty warriors for Christ and be the most influential person in their lives…this is a wonderful and indispensable position!  The feminists have forgotten that "the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world."  Think about it!  Those children are yours to teach and shape and guide and bend in the right way.  You are shaping lives for eternity!  The women that drop their children off at a daycare or babysitter's house because they want more influence in this world have just destroyed the greatest opportunity to influence the world they'll ever have.  The way a woman influences the world is through her children.

        It's necessary to add a side note here for young people.  Most of the ones searching for purpose in life are not married yet and will wonder how these purposes for male and female fit in for them right now.  An unmarried young man is not a family leader, nor is he responsible to provide for a family.  And unmarried young ladies certainly cannot be helpers to husbands they don't have! 
        One way for young people to embrace these purposes is to prepare to fulfill these purposes when the time comes.  A young man should have a complete, mature understanding of what God's purposes for men are, and learn how to become a wise and strong leader as well as a successful provider before marriage.  "Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field;  and afterwards build thine house." Pro. 24:27  According to this verse, before building a family, a man must have proper preparation.  The time before marriage is a very special time in which a young person should focus mainly on his foundational purposes mentioned above.  Spiritual preparation is the most important type of preparation for the future and if you are spiritually prepared you will be enabled to fulfill God's purposes for your life much more effectually.
        A lot of unmarried young ladies are confused as to what their present purpose is and what they should be doing with their time.  Even those who are focusing on the most important purposes still feel like they should be doing something else…and so they should!  God has created us with the desire to be helpers, to be needed.  This is not a time when a young lady's time and life are her own and she is free to do whatever she wants until a husband comes along.  Nor is it a time for her to be idle.  She is created to be a helper.  But who is she to help until she is married, if she gets married?  First and foremost, her father.  He is her protector, provider and spiritual leader until he gives her to another man, and it should be every young lady's privilege to be able to assist and serve her father and further his vision.  A young lady can also be a helper to her brothers, her mother and sisters, her church family, busy moms, the poor…the list can go on and on.  But many young ladies feel like that's not enough.  In fact, they feel that they need to give in to the urge (and the cultural norm) to leave home, go to college,  get a job, or serve in a ministry capacity. 
        Should an unmarried young lady do these things? (I'm purposely refraining from labeling the unmarried as "single."  Single means just one, and until a young lady or a young man becomes part of a new family, they're still part of their original family.  An unmarried young lady who lives at home with her family is certainly not alone or single. She is part of the family group -- she is together with her family.  Saying one is "single" gives the impression of an independent, self-reliant attitude.  Just because a daughter completes high school or turns 18 doesn't mean she's automatically different and can't be part of the family anymore.  God expressly declares in Matthew 19:5 that sons and daughters leave home to start a new one.) 
        It's important to realize that the issue of women outside the home is a relatively new idea -- in fact, it only really came about in the past two hundred years or so…and the world's been here for 6000 years!  For all those years, women were content with the purpose God had created them to accomplish (with the exception of a few Athaliahs.)  Think back to Bible days -- to unmarried young ladies like Rachel and Rebekah, Zipporah and Esther.  These were all of marriageable age, but were living at home, showing a heart of submission and service to their fathers and families.  Think also of more modern examples of women…like Susanna Wesley, Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, or Anna Jackson.  Were they slaves, chained to home-life and its cares?  No, because they embraced with joy their purpose as women, and thought of home-making as glorious!  Before they were married, did they run off to "get an education" and pursue a career?  No.  They were wisely making preparation for their womanly calling, learning skills to manage their future homes and aid their future husbands.  And these ladies were not ignorant.  They were very learned and educated.  Young ladies should be as well-educated as young men, but it doesn't take a college education to make you smart or even well-educated.  I can think of many ladies I know who in their youth, because it was the thing to do, went to college and got their degree -- and never used it.  They later married and began having children and realized that their college education was no help whatsoever in these situations.  In fact, I'm sure most of them wished that they had learned to cook and clean, train children, and manage a household instead of spending at least 4 years studying something that is of no value to them now.  Higher education is not wrong or bad.  In fact, there are many skills that would be very useful to a woman and to her husband.  But college is not the only place where you can learn things.  In fact, you'd be more likely to learn away from college, away from peer groups and temptations and distractions.  If you as a young lady cannot pursue your studies from the safety of your home, under your father's protection,  perhaps you are pursuing the wrong thing.   And while it might seem an attractive thing to be a young lady with a degree, remember that it is much more important to have the skills and the experience necessary to fulfill God's purpose for you as a woman.  I know young girls of 10 or 12 years who are more prepared to be a wife, mother and manager of the home than are most college-educated women twice their age.  
        Many times it's the fault of the father when his daughters feel wasted and unfulfilled in the home.  God has given daughters to fathers and described them as a heritage and a reward (Ps. 127:3).  As long as daughters aren't married, it is their father's responsibility to provide for them, not only with material things, but with spiritual leadership and practical guidance.  A father should be providing a vision for his family and allowing his children to help him accomplish it.  But many fathers are so caught up in their work and the earthly things of day-to-day life that they fail to grasp the higher vision and purpose God has for them and their families.  They cheat their sons and their daughters out of the privilege of working alongside each other towards a common goal, leaving them to all go their separate ways, fragment the family, and begin to look up to and serve someone else.  It is imperative for fathers to realize that one of their main purposes in life is to disciple their children.
        Let's return to the issue of women outside the home -- or inside the home -- bent on fulfilling their own agenda.  I know young ladies who agree that women are to be helpers to their husbands and stay at home with their children…these young ladies recognize this as the married woman's purpose.  But they argue that before they're married, it's all right for them to work outside the home or go to serve the Lord in a ministry position.  After all, those sound a lot more important than a girl living at home, serving her family.  But are they more important?  As I mentioned before, preparing for the purpose God has for you in the future is crucially important.  We would agree that a young man should be preparing for leadership and for being a successful provider.  Most young ladies and their fathers want to see the proof of proper preparation in a guy's life before considering marriage.  Yet doesn't it seem that a young lady who has left her home for work or even for ministry purposes is not preparing properly for being a keeper at home?  If a young lady convinces herself that some job or opportunity is more important than serving her family, it is very probable that after marriage she will feel unfulfilled in her role as helper.  After all, if ministry is more important than serving father and family, isn't it more important than husband and children?
        When you think about a "keeper at home," what is the first thing you picture?  What you think of immediately will probably prove accurately if you have feministic thinking or not.  Do you picture a tired, worn-out woman in a faded housecoat, surrounded by dirty dishes, dirty laundry and screaming children?  If you are a feminist, that was probably very close to your mental picture.  Let me tell you what I picture -- a bright, gentle lady seated with her family at the kitchen table, her eyes surveying her family with tenderness and love and contentment.  Her children look at her -- their teacher, the one who champions their causes, who understands them, who always has time to listen, their biggest fan -- with loving and grateful eyes and her husband smiles fondly upon her with love and admiration.  She is his helper, his most valued advisor, his confidante, his cheerleader, his best friend, his companion, his sunshine.  Perhaps there are dirty dishes in the sink and maybe she has a spot on her apron.  But we don't even notice it because the joy and contentment and perfect fulfillment in her expression have grabbed our focus.   This is what it is to be a keeper at home, and why it is far more influential than any position the world or workforce could offer. 
        Proverbs 31 gives us an illustration of a keeper at home.  This lady was called a virtuous, or excellent woman.  She gives us several additional points to ponder.  This lady was very skilled, very productive and quite ambitious.  The exciting thing is that she did all that she did from the home!  Home is not a cage - it is the platform from which we influence the world.  It's also important to note that it wasn't the virtuous woman who was "known in the gates" -- it was her husband who had the place of political leadership.  However, her works were known and talked about and praised in the gates, because she was faithfully doing what she had been created for!

3.  The unique purpose of each individual
        God has given all of us the same foundational purposes and given men and women separate functions and responsibilities.  Yet we are all different, created with special and unique abilities, skills, drives and desires.  This is because there is a 3rd level of life purpose…a very specific calling which God fashioned and created you specifically for.  All 3 types of purposes are important.  Instead of looking at one as more important than another, this is an easy way to look at it: Your specific life calling is the means God has given you to fulfill the first 2 levels of life purpose.  Someone who has been called to be a doctor will be best able to glorify God and provide for his family when he fulfills that calling.  If he decides to do something else with his life, his influence and effectiveness will be diminished.  That's where it starts to get scary for some people.  They desperately want to follow God's plan and not make a wrong choice that will ruin their effectiveness.  Here are a few truths to consider.
        1.  Your life calling will never contradict your main purpose for living.  Because your specific area of work is only a tool to aid you in glorifying God, keeping His commands, loving Him and honoring His roles for the sexes, it is impossible for it to contradict or hinder any of these areas.  For example, God's life calling for a woman cannot be for her to run for public office…not because she is not as important or smart as a man, but because it is not her role!  When seeking God's will and specific calling for your life, your original, over-arching purpose and God-given roles and responsibilities must be brought into consideration.  They should compliment and further each other, not oppose or hinder.
        2.  Your life calling may or may not be something you're naturally inclined to do.  Most people evaluate their gifts, skills, and personal wishes, then decide on a vocation based on their own desires.  God did give us gifts for a reason, and many times He calls people to fulfill their dreams.  But just looking at what you'd like, want or enjoy isn't giving God the right to use you however He decides.  Consider Moses, Gideon, Jeremiah…who responded to God's call with "I can't!"  What about Saul, who considered himself so unfit to be the king of Israel that he hid?  Jonah disliked his divine commission so much that he tried to run away from it!  He certainly would have never chosen the calling of preaching to the Ninevites!  And even the apostle Paul, who was perhaps the greatest Christian of all time, felt unfit for his calling to preach the gospel.  He called his speaking skills weak and contemptible! Many times the Lord will select those who feel unable to do the job He wants them to do because then He alone will receive the glory when it is accomplished! 
        One thing is sure: the only way you will be fulfilled and fully effective for God's kingdom is when you are obeying the Lord's direction for your life!  Make sure you listen to the Lord and seek Him and His will first.  Be patient.  Sometimes the Lord has us wait.  Christ Himself didn't begin His earthly ministry until He was about 30 years old.  And waiting doesn't mean a passive lack of involvement.  Waiting on the Lord is simply continuing what you're doing until He gives you direction to do otherwise.  God doesn't hide His will from us.  Does a master expect his servants to read his mind and get the work done -- or does he carefully and specifically instruct them?  The same is true with parents, employees and other authorities.  They want those under them to know what they expect of them and they tell them what to do!  The Lord will make known His will for you every day and in His timing.  That may mean a long period of waiting.  Moses was 80 years old when God called him!  And  never forget that your highest calling is already revealed to you!
        3.  Don't ever let the third level of life purpose become more important than the first two!  This is all too prevalent in the lives of Christians today!  We get so involved in the daily aspects of life that we begin to get distracted from our true purpose.  Consequently, our churches are filled with people who are shallow and immature who don't understand God or His ways.   These people call themselves Christians, but they are not living up to their name or their calling!  The word "Christian" means "Christ-one" or "little Christ" -- one whose life is like Christ's and reminds us of Christ.  Jesus doesn't save us just to rescue us from eternal punishment.  He wants you to become one with Him, to grow, and fulfill the purpose He created you for!  When our family moved to this area 10 years ago we planted some fruit trees.  We knew it would take a while for them to grow, support branches, and bear fruit, but we planted them with the full expectation that someday we would enjoy the fruits of the trees…in fact, that was the very purpose we had in planting them.  However, it didn't happen that way.  The trees grew, branched out and are covered with leaves, but we still have never received one piece of fruit from them!  They are unfruitful plants that have never done us any good.  Because they are not fulfilling their purpose, we have no use for them. 
        This is a picture of a person who has been saved but who fails to achieve the foundational purposes of life.  Yes, he has escaped the punishment of hell, but he is wholly unprofitable to God.  He may be a successful, good and moral person, but those things are just leaves and branches -- of no use to the Husbandman.  Our primary focus must be our relationship with our Lord, which alone will bring forth the fruit.
        
        Men have not only been forgetting to focus on the fruit-bearing aspects like pleasing God and glorifying Him - they have also been neglecting their families for work…and especially ministry.          
        This sad truth was illustrated in the great missions movement in Europe over a hundred years ago.  The foreign fields were dark, terribly dangerous, full of diseases, plagues, evil and savage men, and wild animals.  Most of the missionaries who went to these fields opted to do what seemed to them a very wise thing - leave their children behind.  The field was too dangerous, and they reasoned that there would be no provision for the education of their children.  Besides, they might contract some deadly disease or be harmed by the natives!  So they left their children in England or Scotland, at boarding schools or with friends and relatives.  Many of these missionaries were great and godly men who did much for the kingdom of God, but they failed to realize that their calling to be a father was more important than their calling to the Africans or Malaysians or Chinese.  They certainly loved their children deeply, and wrote them long and tender letters, breathing fatherly affection and counsel in every line.  Certainly they spent many hours agonizing in prayer for the spiritual well-being of their children, and certainly they desired deeply that they would seek the Lord with all their hearts.  These men of God surely understood the first level of life purpose, and were committed to loving God first and living their lives for His glory.  But doesn't it seem like they forgot the greatest commandment?  When the Lord instructed Israel to love Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength in Deuteronomy 6, in the same breath He said that they were to teach His commandments to their children at all times of the day.  God views a parent's discipleship of their children as so important that He included it in the instruction that is the greatest commandment. 
        Some of the children of these missionaries grew up to become servants of God, but others did not.  And it was not only missionaries.  Pastors, elders, and other spiritual leaders of the day also failed to view the discipleship of their sons and daughters as more important than external ministry and work.  In an alarmingly few generations, England has gone from being the great home of Christendom, the mother of preachers, missionaries and revivalists…and has become a post-Christian nation to which we are now sending missionaries!
        Whenever I think of England's spiritual condition, I am reminded of a missionary who shared one of his experiences with our church several years ago.  He was in England one day, going door to door, telling people about Christ and inviting them to church.  One of the doors was opened by a lady who informed him that she was an atheist and didn't even believe there was a God.  But she added, "My grandfather was a preacher, though." 
        Wanting to continue the conversation, the missionary asked her what her grandfather's name was.  The lady replied that he wouldn't know him, but his name was Charles Spurgeon.  The startled missionary could hardly believe his ears!  He went on to tell the lady that of course he knew who her grandfather was -- every American Christian knew the name Charles Spurgeon, and most of them had studied her grandfather's books and sermons.  It was the lady's turn to be surprised then.  She had no idea that he was famous! 
        The missionary told her that he had many books written by her grandfather or about her grandfather in his study at home, and asked her if she'd be interested in reading them.  She replied that she would love to.  She had never even seen any of his books before!  The missionary promised to bring them to her, and returned to his car, where he sat…completely stunned.  In only 2 short generations, the Spurgeon family had lost not only their family heritage -- they had lost God!  The granddaughter of one of history's greatest preachers not only didn't believe in His God -- she didn't even know who he was! 
        I hear people marveling about England's spiritual deterioration all the time.  "What happened?!" Christians today bemoan.
        I'll tell you what happened.  Christian fathers and mothers didn't take the discipleship of their children seriously, and they lost them.  Christianity is not passed on in the bloodstream, therefore Christianity is only one generation away from extinction. 
        This is verified by the words of Psalm 78:1-7. "Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments."
        I would like to use the example of a dear family that has been close to us for many years.  The father works very hard, and has always worked hard, but he doesn't own his own land, house, nice cars, etc.  If the world and even some Christians were to look at this man, they would not call him successful.  But those who know this man and his family happen to know that his life has been very successful.  Why?  Because he has passed on his commitment and passion for God to his children.  His son, one of the most fervent and godly young men I know, is preparing to take his family to a third-world country to give his life for the furtherance of the gospel.  This father also has a daughter who, with her husband, is committed to the convictions and principles he taught her, and they are raising their own little boy in the same paths of righteousness.  As mentioned above in the section about the purpose of fathers, God doesn't measure success by your business, your bank account, your fame, or even your ministry.  He measures success by your children.

        4.  Every believer is in "full-time Christian service."  I can't count how many times I've heard the "full-time Christian service" phrase, usually in reference to someone who is being supported by other believers to do the work of God.  That label has always been one of the things that irks me.  When Christ saved us He didn't give us a part-time salvation, and He doesn't expect us to give Him a part-time devotion.  Everyone who has been redeemed by Jesus Christ has been called to be a full-time servant of His.  The construction worker who has been adopted into the family of God is just as much a part of it as is the pastor or evangelist and they have been called to the very same level of holiness.
        Another thing that the "full-time service" phrase wrongly implies is that someone who is a missionary, Christian school teacher, pastor, etc.  is doing more for God than someone who is a farmer, doctor, architect or another "secular" vocation.  This is a dangerous way of thinking, and unfortunately it is being taught to Christian young people.  I've been in more than one service where young people were pressured to "surrender to full-time Christian service," and some of them did.  There are numerous problems with this -- the failure to seek parental counsel, getting emotionally caught up in the feelings of the service, or even just not wanting others to think that you are "unspiritual." Another problem is that it doesn't leave room at all for prayer, really seeking the Lord, or hearing from Him in quietness of heart. I've known some of these young people who "surrendered" in such a service who are now not missionaries or pastors at all!  The call was not a genuine call from God.
        When was the last time you heard a pastor or evangelist talking about how every believer is called to full-time holiness?  That is true…but it is not true that every believer who is really serious about the Lord is called to be something like a pastor or a missionary!  Could it be God's purpose for a person to be a lawyer, a realtor, a government official, a professor or a musician?  It most certainly could, and there are many such Christians across the world today.  The Christian who is fulfilling God's purpose for his life as a photographer is no less godly, spiritual or dedicated to the Lord than someone who is working in what we perceive as "Christian service."  And God is more pleased with him than He would be if he decided to become a missionary, because he is doing what God specifically designed him to do.
        The reason why it doesn't seem to us that Christians who do normal, every-day jobs are in "full-time service" is because most of them don't realize that they are.  Jesus is Lord, and if He is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.  Christ wants to exercise His Lordship in every area of our lives.  If we are dead to self and alive in Christ, all that is left is Christ.  He alone is the Master and the Ruler of every moment, every detail, every decision and every possession.  He actually cares about the minute decisions that we make every day and desires to be in control of everything we say, think and do. 
        
        5.  Live your life to further the kingdom of God. It's rather hard to define what it means to seek the kingdom of God.  To me, it is realizing that Christ owns every part of me, and that everything I do should be advancing His Lordship in my life and His reign over the earth. 
        The kingdom of God is extended when someone repents of sin and accepts Christ as their substitute before God.  The kingdom of God is extended when believers yield everything to the Lordship of Christ and no longer have any claim on their own life.  The kingdom of God is extended when two godly young people join in matrimony with a vision of multi-generational faithfulness and complete surrender to God's will.  The kingdom of God is extended when a husband and wife yield family planning to God.  The kingdom of God is extended when churches who seek to follow God and the literal interpretation of His Word are planted.  The kingdom of God is extended when godly parents disciple their children when they rise up, and when they sit down, and when they walk by the way.  The kingdom of God is extended when believers share the gospel of Christ with one who is lost. The kingdom of God is extended by our discovering new ways to use what He has created, and bringing more of the creation under our dominion for His glory.  The kingdom of God is extended when His people live by His principles (even when it seems illogical) and prove to the world that God's ways are higher than our ways.  The kingdom of God is extended when any believer, no matter which vocation they are in, focuses on enlarging the kingdom in their daily life and work.   For example, an architect who realizes that he has been specifically designed by God for His work will be inspired to use all his intellect, talent, precision, and creativity to make the most beautiful and excellent buildings he can for the glory of God.  A publisher who is seeking to advance the kingdom of God realizes that the Lord has given him the privilege of providing spiritual truth and enlightenment to the world through biblically sound books.  He will suddenly be more careful in selecting which works to print, because he realizes that his is a high and important calling.

        Realizing that we are being used to further the kingdom of God and His dominion over the earth gives us new inspiration, new intuition and a new enthusiasm for the work at hand. 
        Jesus Christ desires for each of His children to understand and embrace the furtherance of the kingdom of God.  In the great Sermon on the Mount, Jesus pled: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." 
        The mindset of seeking to advance the kingdom is a heavenly mindset, and one that makes the most mundane of tasks shine with an eternal significance.  May we all become kingdom advancers for the glory and dominion of the Lord!
        

Conclusion
        We are God's creation.  He has lovingly, carefully, and exquisitely designed each one of us for His amazing purpose and plan.  Let us honor Him by honoring and embracing His design for our lives.