Living with Purpose
“I was a dead man walking, until I was a man walking with You.” — Jeremy Camp
Freedom and peace elude us when we are walking away from Jesus. Instead, we are imprisoned by anxiety, guilt, and shame; a prison of our own making.
We are left to endlessly strive for more; more respect, more love, more money, and more things. And no matter how hard we work, we never feel like we measure up. As delightful as the things we strive for are, they never satisfy. Instead, they eventually leave us with a deadness in our heart. So we keep searching for the next thing, hoping that this will finally bring satisfaction. We tell ourselves “if only…” and thus the cycle of striving begins again.
We only find a life of true freedom and peace when we surrender everything to Christ. Although we can live our life without Christ, it is not until we walk closely with Him daily that we understand the fullness of what our life is really intended to be. Following Jesus daily eventually leaves us with a full heart.
This leaves each of us with a choice, you can either continue trying to find the next thing, or you can run to Jesus, the only true source of life that can satisfy. When we pursue Him, He can end our cycle of endless striving.
What does pursuing Jesus look like?
A whole-hearted pursuit of Jesus means focusing your attention on Him, rather than on the fleeting things of this world. It means consistently devoting time to reading the Bible and praying, so that He can make you more like Himself. It also means using our freedom to serve one another in love.
Pursuing Jesus means putting Him first in our life. It means desiring what He desires more than our own plans and ambitions. The antidote to a life of striving is a life of serving.
What you spend your time and money on often reveals the true desire of your heart and shows who or what you are truly following. — Kyle Idleman
Jesus frees us to be able to live the life that God has designed for us, not the life that we map out for ourselves.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. — Galatians 5:24–25 (NLT)
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:1–7 (NIV)
