Having purpose gives reason to get up in the morning

By REV. DR DAVID L.CHANCEY
Pastor

I heard of a company that advertised a "cruise to nowhere." People get on board a cruise ship, and when they leave port, instead of setting out on a lush island or other exotic location, they go out to sea and travel in circles for a couple of days. They enjoy delicious meals, lounge around the pool, enjoy the entertainment and have lots of fun. But they really don't go anywhere.

Can't you hear it when they get back? "Where have you been?"

"Oh, I took a cruise."

"Where'd you go?"

"Oh, nowhere. We just went around in circles."

A lot of people spend their entire lives like that, wandering aimlessly through life, or chasing pleasures and going around in circles without any real sense of purpose. As Yogi Berra said, "If you don't know where you're going, you might end up someplace else."

Living a purpose driven life is a major emphasis across our nation right now. Thanks to Rick Warren, whose book The Purpose Driven Life reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list, many people are pondering the significance of their existence. Why am I here? Why was I created?

Warren suggests that something drives every person's life. If "drive" means to control, guide or direct," then something is driving our life. Some people are driven by guilt. People driven by guilt allow their past to control their future. They are constantly manipulated by painful memories. Warren says that we are products of our past, but that we don't have to be prisoners of our past.

Many people, he says, are driven by resentment and anger. We tend to hold onto hurts instead of letting them go. When we hold onto hurts, we in essence hurt ourselves more than the one who offended us. We should forgive and move on, but instead we grow bitter.

Others are driven by fear. A traumatic experience, living under unrealistic expectations, or poor self-esteem all can contribute to a life of fear that keeps us playing it safe. Fear-driven people are afraid to venture out. They stay in their comfort zone.

Many people are driven by materialism, Warren says. Their desire to acquire obsesses their entire lives. They never have enough, and they fail to realize that they can't take it with them. Self-worth and net-worth are not the same. Our value is not determined by our valuables.

Many people are driven by the need for approval. They allow the expectations of parents or spouses or children or teachers to control their lives. Others give in to peer pressure and are always worried about what others might think.

Jesus said that no one can serve two masters. We can't sit on the fence and find fulfillment in life. We will always feel our life is pointless without a sense of purpose. The commander of the space shuttle Columbia that exploded over Texas last February was Rick Husband. An article in The Washington Post quoted Husband as saying that being an astronaut "was not the absolute culmination of everything there is to life on earth." He had once told the packed sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church in his hometown of Amarillo, "as exciting as a ride on the space shuttle may seem, I have to say that it is not as important as my relationship with Jesus. If it came to a point where I had to choose one or the other, I'd give up the shuttle ride in a minute.

Rick Husband lived with purpose and his relationship with Jesus was the most important thing in his life. Everything he did, he did for Jesus.

Everybody needs a reason to get up in the morning. What is yours? What purpose drives your life?

(Dr. David L. Chancey is pastor of McDonough Road Baptist Church in Fayetteville. The church family meets at 352 McDonough Road and invites you to join them for Bible study at 9:45 a.m. and worship at 10:55 a.m. and 6 p.m. this Sunday.)