Our Intended Purpose
My two beloved Labrador Retrievers Sadie and Annie are getting old. Their hips are going bad and they have arthritis. Even though they hurt a little, and are getting slow, when they see me coming; they get their tennis balls in their mouths and dutifully come over to me willing to run and retrieve. Breeders of dogs tell us that retrieving is a Labrador’s intended purpose.
Sadie and Annie may be willing to run and retrieve even through their pain, but at this stage of their life I really think they just want me to love on them when I see them. Their willingness to retrieve is an obedient response, but when I rub their head and spend time with them, they seem to not be worried about running and fetching as much. They just want to be with me.
What is our intended purpose? Is it achievement, making a family, building assets? Is it service or attainment of power or position? Is it pleasure, enjoyment or happiness? Like Sadie and Annie, were we really born just to run and retrieve in the rat race of life?
Like Sadie and Annie, each of us has a determined genetic pool and natural gifts and inclinations that steer us towards certain tasks or professions in life. Our environment and upbringing may dictate our life’s course. We have parents instead of owners and teachers instead of trainers; but our intended purpose was engrained into us from the beginning of time and it is very basic and simple.
Our intended purpose is to bring love and worship back to our Creator through the things we do in life. We might run after and retrieve achievement and awards; but like Annie and Sadie that is not our intended purpose. What we really want out of life is to give and receive unconditional love and care. As Sadie and Annie’s owner, I really don’t need lots of slobbery tennis balls; I just want to enjoy the pleasure and love of two sweet animals that I am entrusted with owning.
Our intended purpose is to get to know and then bring praises back to the eternal God who loves us more than we even love ourselves. We should never confuse our intended purpose with our talents, tasks and callings in life. We have lots of work to do that God intends for us to do obediently; like running and retrieving. We should do those tasks well, even when we are getting older and our arthritis sets in and hurts us as we work.
But rest easy, what God really wants from us is our love, obedience and worship. He wants to rub our ears and stroke our neck. We often make life too complicated. For our intended purpose is pure, basic and easily fulfilled. Give God a hug and praise today; fulfill your intended purpose!