Why am I here on this planet? I believe you are here for two reasons.
1. To know God.
God knew you before you were formed in your mother’s womb. He created you to know Him. (Jerimiah 1:5) The Pharisees in the Gospel of Matthew tried to get Jesus to pick one commandment over the other. In Jesus’ brilliance, he summed them all up in two. We refer to this as the Great Commandment.
Matt:22:34-39 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
So first and foremost, this commandment says to love God. When we spend time with God, we get to know Him. The more time you spend with God, the more you grow to love God because He is good. (James 1:16-17)
2. To Love people
When we continue to Love God, the 2nd commandment becomes a lot easier, love people. I believe how we treat people is a direct reflection of our relationship with God. God loves all people, so, therefore, the better I know God, the better I will be at loving people. So once again, why am I here? To Love God and Love people. I am here to influence peoples’ lives toward a relationship with Jesus.
Be used by God.
Working with students and student pastors for over 30 years has given me insight on a few things. Of course, the older I get, the more I realize I know nothing. But here is something I have learned. There is nothing more important in the life of a believer than to be used by God! I find that the people who are fired up for God are the ones being used by God. My oldest son Hayden, helped start a First Priority club on his campus during his freshman year of high school. In his sophomore year, he got the opportunity to share his testimony at the club. He was, of course, nervous, as this was his first attempt at public speaking. I helped coach him and helped him outline his talk. That Thursday afternoon changed his life forever. He stood and shared his story to about 300 students, and then at the end, he gave people an opportunity to ask Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. That day 35 of his peers gave their lives to Christ. Boom! Hayden was never the same. He was so excited that God used him. His youth pastor was also fired up as he realized Hayden was practicing what he had been teaching him. First Priority gave my son the platform to be used by God.
