Whose Purpose?
I teach a course in which one of the core principles is understanding purpose. For assignments in the course, students are called to always keep in mind what their goal is. Why are they asking what they are asking? Why are they using the strategies they are using? It’s all about purpose. But it’s all about THEIR purpose. Many of us live our lives by this same core principle. We see our purpose potentially through our family relationships or we see it through our careers. However, for those of us who are Christians, we are called to a different way of living.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. “ Romans 8:28
Note here that the key word purpose is at the end. So let’s see what gets us to the key word. The first part of this verse taps into God’s qualities of goodness and faithfulness. “[T]hose who love [H]im” is a phrase to describe Christians — people who have put their faith in God by acknowledging the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the personal need for this sacrifice to make a right relationship with God (Romans 10: 9-10). So this verse to the early Christian church in Rome serves as a reminder that God is in ALL things once a person has established a relationship with Him.
Now after the comma we are given a dependent clause, or a group of words that cannot stand alone as a sentence. Dependent clauses are words of description. So what does this second part of the sentence describe? The first “who” are “those who love [H]im” — Christians. Then it talks about the calling of Christians and this calling is not specified other than to say it is “[H]is” purpose. That’s God. God’s purpose. So, once we become Christians, we are called or chosen or appointed to purposes set by God. This creates a very different way of living from how humans are naturally given to lead their lives.
So if we put it altogether, Christians love the Lord our God and we are assigned to God’s purposes and if we act in those purposes, God promises to be faithful to work all of those purposes for our good, and His glory. So let’s pray: first, to become a follower of Christ if you haven’t already made that commitment and second, if you are a Christian, pray that God make His purposes for your life clear to you. Then move in that direction, trusting God cannot be unfaithful. It will be better than you can ask or imagine.
