What is ministry? Ministry is any time your use the abilities God has given you to help someone else in Jesus’ name. The Bible teaches that God uniquely wired you in a certain way for a purpose. God gave you your abilities—not for your benefit but to bless other people.
Number 5: Made for a Mission
The fifth reason you were put on this Earth is that you were made for a mission.
Paul was extremely passionate about this particular purpose. He says in Acts 20:24, “The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus Christ gave me.” And what is that work? To tell people the good news about God’s grace. There’s a word for fulfilling my mission in the world—it’s called “evangelism.” That is the fifth purpose God has for your life.
My dad was a man on a mission. He was a pastor for 50 years but died a few years ago of cancer. The last week of his life he was delusional, and my wife and I were sitting beside him. He was very frail, and he’d lost all this weight from cancer. One night he became agitated and tried to get out of bed.
Kay said, “Jimmy, you can’t get out of bed. Lie back down; you’re very weak. You’re dying.” But he tried to get back out of bed, and my wife said again, “No. Please lie back down in the bed.” She forced him back down in the bed, and she said, “What is it you need?”
He said, “Gotta save one more for Jesus. Gotta save one more for Jesus. Gotta save one more for Jesus.” He said this over and over maybe 100 times. “Gotta save one more for Jesus.”
As I sat there by his bedside, I put my head down and prayed, tears coming down my cheeks. My dad reached up and put his hand on my head—like a blessing—and he said, “Save one more for Jesus. Save one more for Jesus.” I intend for that to be the theme of the rest of my life. And I invite you to make it the theme of your life.
You were made for a mission.
Now, I have shared from God’s Word what it means to live a life of purpose, a purpose-driven life.
What are you going to do about it?
The Bible says, “David served God’s purpose in his own generation.” I can’t think of a better epitaph. That’s what I want for my life—that when I die people will say, “He served God’s purpose in his generation.”
And that’s what I want people to say about you, that you served God’s purpose in your generation.
