In the past 10-20 years, living a life of purpose has become the new fad. We desire so much to live a life that is full of meaning. What I have realized about many of the books written on the topic is that the ideas are generally very individualized and lacks depth. Often times the goal is to be in a certain position in life which will optimize our ability to live in comfort but it rarely allows us to enjoy “the moment.” So the question which I pose is, “How do we live a life which is full of purpose yet we can still learn to enjoy it in the process?”
The simplest way I can answer it is: live with the mindset of eternity. It rolls off the tongue easily and seems like a simple thing, however the act is really important for us as Christians.
When we live a life where we must achieve a specific number of goals in our lives, we live with the mindset that we only have X amount of years to live. We feel rushed in our lives to do new things or we feel huge regret and remorse because we have wasted our lives. I am not quite sure this is how we are supposed to live.
I feel that we are to have a Kingdom mindset, one that shoots for eternity and not the year 2060. If I keep in mind that the end of my immediate life is the end, then I am continuing to feel that I must achieve, achieve, achieve. I will never be satisfied because there is always going to be more to do and I will never be able to accomplish it within this lifetime. However, if I live with the mentality that my death is not where it ends, that there is resurrection, I am able to take the time I have and be satisfied with the effort I put forth. I will be able to enjoy, “the NOW.”
I understand that people automatically fear that this thinking allows people to be lazy, however I do not believe that such a person understands grace. As we experience the grace of God and understand that there is eternity, we put forth hard work but do not kill ourselves trying to set records. When we sit with a person at the hospital, we do not need to check our watches to make sure we’re not spending too much time there. We can rest with that person, give them quality time and not worry about doing more work because at this moment, the Kingdom of God is manifesting in the love you are showing. We can live understanding that quality is greater than quantity.
This was super brief and I understand that this blog does not fully spell out all the thoughts I had but I do not wish to bore you so quickly. So I want to end with a couple suggestions and questions.
1) First, take a deep breath sit back and think. Are you living a rushed life that tries to collect accolades or are you living a life full of hard work which at the same time enjoys the moment?
2) Are you living for your life only, or are you living a life that factors in eternity?
3) Do you find yourself often times thinking, “The next phase of my life will be better”?
4) How often do you enjoy the work/service/ministry you do? Are they just part of a to-do list or do you find them to be important and enjoyable?
5) Finally, How often are you able to spend quality time with friends and family?
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