On Purpose for a Purpose

     "You were born on purpose, with a purpose". I was driving to church one Sunday morning and I heard Pastor Ray Sweet make that proclamation. If that is true then each of us, all of us, have a purpose that we are to fulfill in our lives. I'll carry that one out even further, I believe that the "purpose" you were created for may not just be a one day event in our lives, but instead your purpose carries forward until the day you leave this world. Hopefully, if you planted enough positive seeds along the way, your purpose may very well continue to impact others for generations to come. Why your purpose could actually change the course of history and you may never even see it come to fruition or you may not ever make the connection to the change that you imparted along the way. It doesn't matter if you do or if you don't, it only matters that you understand that you are not here on this rock just breathing in oxygen, waiting until it is your time to check out to the other side. You were born on purpose, with a purpose.
      What is your purpose? How do you know that you are fulfilling your purpose? What happens if I don't fulfill my purpose? The answers to these questions may seem foreign or distant to you, but in all honesty the answers are readily available. Your purpose in life is found wherever you are at that moment in time. Whatever you are doing right now, your purpose can be fulfilled. Your life matters right now, and it is up to you to live your life to the fullest, making the biggest impact possible while you are here on God's earth!
     Some people will say, what I do doesn't really matter, or how can I make a difference I'm just a ..... That's the fallacy, the point that you have to understand is your life has meaning you just have to live it. Matthew 5:15 tells us that "Men do not light a lamp and put it under a basket. They put it on a table so it gives light to all in the house." Until you grasp the understanding that your life matters it's like you are taking your purpose and hiding it under a basket. Why would God create a light and then hide it under a basket? He wouldn't, God created you for a reason, now it's your job to seek that reason out and keep seeking it until the day you die!
      Whatever your job is, whatever your role in life is, you have a purpose. You may be working in a job that you would say doesn't really matter and that you could be replaced by the next person that walks through the door. You may believe that your purpose in life can't be fulfilled due to some type of health or physical circumstance. You may have caused so much hurt and pain that you can't envision the possibility that you could have a purpose for good, but in all of these situations understand this you have a purpose. You can be that light to someone today.
     Paul was a persecutor of Christians before he found his purpose. Paul was afflicted with intense pain in his side to the point that he asked God to take it away three different times, only to finally realize it was in his weakness that God made him strong. When Paul was a prisoner he converted the jailer that was watching over him. Paul found the secret. God can use you, wants to use you, and has a plan for you to fulfill. You just have to fulfill it.
     Don't ever think that your life doesn't matter. That is a lie that so many people have chosen to believe and that lie has devastated too many homes, families, and individual lives. Keep in mind, if you have a purpose and you don't fulfill it, the trajectory of other lives will be dramatically altered. The choices you make, the actions you take will send others going up, or unfortunately going down. Be the light you were born to be. Wherever you are, wherever life finds you today, seek to fulfill your purpose to the utmost. If you don't feel like you are fulfilling your purpose seek out what you feel is your true destiny in this life you are living. Your life matters! Live it.
Coach Carter