A curious customer finally mustered the courage, I think, to ask me yesterday why I work at Starbucks when I clearly (according to him) have more of a purpose in life than that. I gave him a fairly wordy explanation - my life in a nutshell the past year and a half - but had I been succinct, I could have cut it all down to one statement:
My purpose in life is simply to bring glory and pleasure to Jesus, and thankfully I'm able to do that wherever I'm working.
It sounds so incredibly basic. I guess it really is. But let me tell you, it has been anything but simple in arriving at this conclusion. I had the talk down long before I could own it in my walk. Having this understanding of my purpose now frees me to be who I really am in Christ. No need to strive, or prove myself, or earn my way into God's good graces or the Christian "hall of fame." My purpose is not career or ministry or marriage or family. I'm not here on this earth to live as good a life as possible. I'm here to glorify Jesus with my life. I'm alive because of Him, and I live for Him. There is no longer any other purpose (or fine print to my purpose) in life I require. Now that is liberation!
All of life is about breathing in this grace of the gospel of Christ and breathing it back out upon a world starved for grace. We who profess Christ really need not make our purpose (or "calling") more complicated than that. It's just Jesus, it really is that simple. He's enough. Still, give me an eternity and I'll never reach the end of this mystery. It's absolutely beautiful.
You put is so well!! That's exactly the truth. Simple. : )
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