For His Name's Sake.

Purpose.

There is nothing worse than a joke with no punch line.  It leaves everyone standing around awkwardly waiting for more, but there is no more, no one knows if they should laugh.  A joke with no punch line is just no good.  In fact, its not even a joke if it has no punch line.  One thing that is almost equally bad, is busy work.  You know- that stuff that teachers make you do when they have nothing else planned, it takes you forever, but doesn't actually teach you anything.  And there is ABSOLUTELY no reason for it, other than being a complete waste of time.

There is a reason for this bantering.  And it's not because I'm angry at all the people who tell jokes with no punch lines or at the teachers who give loads of busywork (I'm not even in school anymore... so bring on the busywork, teachers!) But yesterday, during staff meeting Jim led us in a devotion.  We were reading through Psalm 23 and meditating on each line.  We got to the verse "For his name's sake", and began meditating on the word purpose.

What is a life with no purpose?  What is a heart with no purpose?  What is MY purpose?  Where does my purpose fit in to the rest of the world?  A life with no purpose is empty.  It's like a bad joke with no punch line or work that just wastes your time.  What's the point of a life that has no reason?  There is none.  James 4:14 says "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."  Since we are a mist that vanishes so quickly, our purpose HAS to be something beyond ourselves.  Praise Jesus!  Our purpose is bigger than ourselves.  Bigger than we can even fathom!  Our fuel is to live this life, love the people in this world, do all "FOR HIS NAME'S SAKE".

Does that affect the way you clean your room?  Or how you act when you're walking down the hall at your school?  Does it challenge you in your relationships with your friends or girlfriends/boyfriends?  It should.  Our brokenness draws us to selfishness, so every day is a battle to live outside of ourselves.  When we remember our great purpose, our only option is be humbled, turn our eyes upwards, and give Him praise through all that we do.



P.s.  quick update:  CRUD WARS was incredible!  We had a great turnout and had lots of fun!  Looking forward to The 2nd annual Crud War next year!  :-)