What Were You Made To Live For? from Paul Tripp Ministries
Why do little kids daydream about being a pilot or a princess?
Why do college students volunteer for charitable causes?
Why do sports fans lose their mind over a small round ball?
Why do we keep records and try to break them?
Why do we get hooked on fictional movies and scripted TV shows?
Why do we look back on life and wonder what could have been?
Because we all are trying to live for something bigger.
This desire for transcendence – going beyond the ordinary range of human experience – is in us because God placed it there.
The Creator designed us to chase meaning and purpose. More significant than our physical body, he gave us eyes to cast visions, brains to innovate, and hearts to desire bigger and better.
But then sin entered the world and twisted our pursuit of more. We either stopped chasing it altogether, or we got it confused and started to pursue much less.
What were you and I originally intended to live for? Let’s go back to the beginning:
1. We Were Made To Live For God (Genesis 1:26)
Since we are created by God and in his likeness, the transcendent glory that every human being quests for, whether we recognize it or not, is not an element in creation. Our lives are designed to be shaped by our attachment to the Creator.
2. We Were Made To Live For Truth (Genesis 1:28, 2:16)
Immediately upon creating Adam and Eve, God spoke to them – something he didn’t do with anything else. God has hardwired us with communicative abilities to receive his revelation, glorious truths that shape everything we think, desire, and do.
3. We Were Made To Live For Community (Genesis 2:18)
We were made to need one another, and this community is meant to exist in a variety of forms: sibling, parent, spouse, neighbor, friend, teammate, co-worker, etc. This web of ongoing relationships requires us to live for more than just ourselves.
4. We Were Made To Live For Stewardship (Genesis 1:28)
God carefully constructed his world and then placed it in the hands of people. You and I are designed to be resident managers, caring for the wide variety of amazing things God has purposefully crafted to be reflectors of his glory.
Why does this matter today?
It’s unlikely that God will call you to drop everything you’ve been doing and start something new.
Rather, he calls you every morning to attach yourself to him, to be guided by his truth, to immerse yourself in community, and to be a steward of the gifts he has given you.
All in the midst of what you are already doing.
God has placed you just where he wants you. And he wants you to be part of something big.
He wants you to live for the Kingdom of God, in the situations, locations, and relationships of your everyday life.
His powerful grace enables you to live for that glorious kingdom, right here, right now.
God bless
Paul Tripp
Reflection Questions
- What is one desire that you have today to “live for something more”?
- How can you use that desire and be a good steward of the Kingdom of God? Be specific.
- Conversely, are you at risk of pursuing that desire with only selfish motives?
- How can you “live for more” in your relationships? Pick two (one family relationship, one non-family relationship) and ask how you can live for the Kingdom today in that relationship.