Our article last week dealt with the first two questions of four. I list them again for your information:
Who Am I?
Where Did I Come From?
Why Am I Here?
Where Am I Going?
I want to briefly address the first question again. Last Wednesday, January 18, my wife was watching “The Talk” television program airing on channel 12 at 1:00 pm. She called to me to come to the living room, and said, “you will want to see this.” And indeed I did! One of the guests was Dion Sanders, a former professional football player and now a coach. I have followed his career over the years. He was a very talented football player and it was evident on the playing field. I have been especially interested as he was hired to be the head coach of the Jackson State University Football Team. He was remarkedly successful and Jackson State came to be even more well known in college athletics across the country. He has moved on from Jackson State to be the head football coach at the University of Colorado. As a guest on The Talk, he said a number of things that I liked. But this statement stood out: “I know who I am and where I am going!” I appreciate him saying it and especially on a nationwide television program. I understand not everybody will be a fan of Dion Sanders. But fan or not, you have to appreciate a man making such a public statement.
To believe and make such a statement says that one has some kind of understanding of questions three and four: Why Am I Here? Where Am I Going? I want to challenge you to focus in on this third statement. It deals with a question of purpose. Why am I here at this point in my life? What is my purpose for existing? Following are a couple of statements others have made in reference to purpose: “We exist to know Christ and to make Him known. Everything else is a means to this end”(Jim Denison). Wow! Mr. Denison hits the nail square on its head! The other statement is from the pen of Robert Byrne: “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” Another powerful statement! Do you know what your purpose is in life? Are you fulfilling that purpose? Do you know Jesus? If so, are you making Him known? The Apostle Paul knew his purpose for living. He said it like this; “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain”(Phil. 1:21).
The Bible has a lot to say about “purpose.” We need to read it, pay attention to it, and make application in our lives. Is mine, is yours a life of purpose? To drift through life without any purpose is to rob yourself, and all those with whom you are associated. What a blessing if all of us could say, “For to me, to live is Christ!”
— Les Ferguson Sr., South Huntington Church of Christ
