Day 6, Life Is a Temporary Assignment, is a simple reminder that “Life is short.”  We use this phrase often but at times we don’t realize how true it actually is.

A fish would never be happy living on land, because it was made for water. An eagle could never feel satisfied if it wasn’t allowed to fly. 

Our goal in life is not to just gather as many material things as we can or to reach some great level of success – it is to prepare for the next.

All that we obtain on this side of life has nothing to do with our time in eternity.  At times, during our lives, we may feel as if God isn’t moving or that we aren’t getting what we want or what we deserve.  But this makes sense.  Having times of discomfort allows us to lean and depend on God even more.  After reading this chapter, I am now charged to have God in the center of everything in my life and everything I do.  If I am involved in something and I see that God is not in the center, I must remove myself.  No matter what it is!  This reading pretty much tells us that God is more interested in our character than our comfort.

Ask Yourself: How should the fact that life on earth is just a temporary assignment change the way I am living right now?

© David McGhee

How do you see your life?  This is the question that lies in the center of Day 5, Seeing Life from God’s View.  There are many different answers to this question.  Some contend that life is puzzle or a dance, while others look at life as a circus, a roller coaster, or a deck of cards in which you cannot chose the hand you are dealt.  It all depends. 

How we view our life; whatever image comes to mind is our life metaphor.  This, in turn, influences us more than we may actually think.   When I think about my life metaphor up to this point, I know that I have always looked at life as a journey; never to arrive at a specific place, but to live the journey in which He has set out for me.

The way you see your life shapes your life.

I have been tested many times in my life, and I think it is the ‘journey’ mindset that has allowed me to stay level-headed and keep pressing forward. 

This chapter highlights two major points.  The first being that life is a test, and the other being that life is a trust!

Life is a test: When was the last time you were tested?  Wasn’t that long ago, huh?  I didn’t think so.  People test our character, faith, love, obedience, integrity, loyalty, etc.  The first test came with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  We are test daily as we go throughout our lives.  This isn’t unique to us, either.  God continually tested many individuals in the Bible.  The long and the short of it is this: Our character is both developed and revealed by tests.  So even when we can’t feel God moving in our lives, we can rest assure that He is watching and we are being tested on how we respond.  This means that nothing is insignificant in our lives…nothing!  Even the smallest of things can develop our character. 

Life is a trust: Everything we have God trusts us with.  We are only here on earth for a short period of time, so all that we posses is technically on loan to us from God.  He trusts us to take good care of it.  People especially.  The “stuff” we have, was on loan to someone before we got here and will be on loan to someone after we leave.  It may sound strange but it’s similar to a hotel.  When you travel, you check into a hotel and you “use it like it is yours”; from the refrigerator to the bath towels to the bed.  But in the back of your mind you know that it isn’t really yours, so you still take good care of it. 

Remember, to whom much is given, much is required.  The more we get from God, the more he expects from us.

At the end of your life on earth you will be evaluated and rewarded according to how well you handled what God entrusted to you.

Ask Yourself: What has happened to me recently that I now realize was a test from God?  What are the greatest matters God has entrusted to me?

© David McGhee

The title of Day 3 is What Drives Your Life?  I’ve read this book many times before and Day 3 still remains to be one of my favorite chapters.  What drives my life?  That is one of the deepest and toughest questions I’ve ever asked myself.

…what ultimately matters most will not be what others say about your life but what God says.

In this chapter, the author speaks of a young man, who in college had a goal to be his schools tennis champion.  Once he became champion, he felt proud to have his trophy displayed for all to see.  Years went by, and one day his trophy was mailed to him.  The school was remodeled and his trophy was found in the trashcan.  This teaches us the difference between an earthly legacy, and an eternal legacy.

I reflect back to my high schools years as an athlete and though I was a pretty good player, my aim and focus was always to be better; to play more minutes; to score more points.  Reflecting back, however, I see that the minutes I spend with God and doing His work, are far more important than the minutes on the basketball court.  Furthermore, my former high school is now closed and similar trophies have been trashed.  But the work we do for the Lord will never be trashed.  To put things in perspective, there are several things that can negatively drive our lives.  Below are five of the most

Guilt: Spending life running from regrets and hiding their shame.

Resentment and Anger: Holding on to hurts and never getting over them.

Fear: Traumatic experiences, unrealistic expectations, or even genetic disposition. (These people miss great opportunities because they are afraid to venture out)

Materialism: The desire to acquire (things) becomes the whole goal of their lives.

The need for approval: Allowing the expectations of others control their lives.

As we move forward it is imperative that our lives are driven by the right things.  Anything things else, is just a waste of time…and a waste of our purpose.

Ask Yourself: What would my family and friends say is the driving force of my life?  What do I want it to be?

© David McGhee

I am your Creator.  You were in my care even before you were born. Isaiah 44:2a

God doesn’t play dice.  Albert Einstein

Day two, You Are Not an Accident, was a great read!  The chapter starts out with this phrase: “Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature.  Your parents may not have planned you, but God did.”

It is amazing to know that God decided to create us and give us life.  (Many people don’t know this)  Before I was born, my parents had another child – a boy born two years before me that died shortly after birth.  I think and reflect on the brother I had, and every part of me believes that if he would have survived, I may not be here today.  My parents may not have had another child.  With this in mind, I am saddened at the fact that I had a brother that I was never able to meet and spend time with.  I am rejoiced, however, that God decided to give me life.  This in and of itself lets me know that I was created on purpose, with a purpose.

We didn’t ask God to create us.  He did it because he wanted to.  Because He wanted us to have life and enjoy all that He has in store for us.  Knowing this, how can we complain and not give God all of the glory and the honor for all he has done.  He created you and me for a reason, and our task should be to bring His reasoning for our being to pass.

Luke 13:6-9 tell us about the fig three that was established.  Established with a purpose!  When the tree isn’t producing in a manner in which it should, this passage tells us it should be cut down.  In this context, however, God allows the tree another year to “get it right”.  And so it is with us.  We are just like the fig tree.  Our charge is to live our lives in the manner in which we were created – on purpose and for His purpose.

Ask Yourself: I know that God uniquely created me.  What areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling to accept?

© David McGhee

For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible,…everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him. Colossians 1:16 (Msg.)

Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless. Bertrand Russell

Today marks the first day in my “40 Days of Purpose”.  I will be journaling my reflections on The Purpose Drive Life by Rick Warren.

When reading Day 1, It All Starts with God, the phrase that comes to mind is this; “Don’t pass what you need, chasing after what you want.”  The notion that ‘It All Starts with God’, encourages me to move away from what I want in life and truly focus on what God wants for and from me.  God has a purpose for our lives that will pay dividends well into the future – and not always our future.

We are here for only a short period in time, and God’s purpose for our lives fits into a much bigger purpose.  As I write this I cannot help but to think of individuals such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, and others from the Civil Rights movement.  Having never met any of them, I am convinced that they lived out their purpose for folks such as you and I, and this is what God intended.

In reflecting on the lives of such leaders, we don’t hear about how much money they made or all of the things they accomplished.  We hear that they lived their lives in such a manner that future generations would live, love, and learn better.

This chapter gives us three insights into our purpose:

1. You discover your identity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
2. God planned you life before you even existed.
3. The purpose for your life fits into a greater purpose for eternity.

Ask Yourself: In spite of all the advertising around me, how can I remind myself that life is really about living for God, not myself?

© David McGhee