{"id":9858,"date":"2006-09-17T20:10:36","date_gmt":"2006-09-18T01:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=9858"},"modified":"2019-09-17T20:13:43","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T01:13:43","slug":"our-purpose-in-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/our-purpose-in-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Purpose in Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\nby Kent Heaton\n

In October of 2005, C. D. Moore of Bell, Florida offered a prayer at a gathering of saints at the Cherry Sink Church of Christ. In the course of the prayer he offered, he made the following statement: \u201cLord, help us to remember what our purpose in life is \u2013 the privilege to serve the Lord.\u201d Few thoughts sum up the total of man than the truth of how privileged we are to be considered worthy to approach the throne of God. Men in their pride and arrogance have slain those who would dare enter their courts without permission (Esther 4:11). People of God have a Father who entreats His children to come into His presence to lay their anxious hearts before Him (Philippians 4:6,7). Those who follow the Son of God have a single purpose in life: to serve the King!<\/p>\n

What an imposing thought to consider in the mind of man. We stand before the \u201cKing of Kings and Lord of Lords<\/em>\u201d (Revelation 19:16) to serve Him and to obey His every command. As servants of the Most High God, we have dedicated our lives to follow Him who rides upon a white horse whose name is Faithful and True (Revelation 19:11-16). Jesus Christ is our King and His Father is the Almighty whom we find the summation of our life filled within our breath. It is a privilege to serve Him. It is an awesome thing to consider Him we serve. Moses said, “Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders?<\/em>\u201d (Exodus 15:11).<\/p>\n

The mercy of God has allowed us to have this benefit – this blessing. Mortal man has been given the opportunity to serve the immortal Creator of this world who holds our breath in His hand (Daniel 5:23). We serve Him because He loved us enough to give His only begotten Son to die for our sins (John 3:16). Our allegiance is borne upon the blood given at Golgotha (John 19:17). The servitude we offer to God is only dust on the debt of redemption. God has allowed in His infinite mercy to seek men to worship Him and by His grace, we are allowed to enter into His holy court.<\/p>\n

Our purpose in life is not about my needs and my wants. The reason behind our motives, our wants, our needs and our course of life is governed by the humble realization that we serve a risen Savior. We did not earn this right. There was nothing we could do that would offer this entrance before God. The Jews proved it could not be done by the written law and the Gentiles showed it could not be done as a law to themselves (Romans 2). Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:9 that God \u201chas saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.<\/em>\u201d Glory to God for this rich blessing of being able to serve a loving Father.<\/p>\n

Children of God serve the Lord through the blessing of the grace of God. When it enters the mind of men to forget this grace, lost is the blessing of God. All that we are and all that we can become will only be found in the knowledge that our purpose in life is a single thought: the privilege to serve the Lord. When our life ends and we are ushered before the great and holy presence of Jehovah, these words will ring in our hearts throughout the eternal ages: \u201cWell done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master<\/em>\u201d (Matthew 25:23).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Kent Heaton In October of 2005, C. D. Moore of Bell, Florida offered a prayer at a gathering of saints at the Cherry Sink Church of Christ. In the course of the prayer he offered, he made the following statement: \u201cLord, help us to remember what our purpose in life is \u2013 the privilege to serve the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[41,941,574],"class_list":["post-9858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-life","tag-purpose","tag-service"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":30756,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-characteristics-of-acceptable-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":9858,"position":0},"title":"The Characteristics of Acceptable Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeff Wolverton Sentry Magazine, September 2002 Acceptable prayer must be preceded by faithful, righteous living. Many Christians live spiritually indolent, impure lives, and expect the mouthing of a few words of prayer from time to time to make all things right between them and their Creator. Needless to say,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/patrick-fore-b_SHPU5M3nk-unsplash-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24516,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-make-your-prayer-life-better\/","url_meta":{"origin":9858,"position":1},"title":"How do you make your prayer life better?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What should you do if you have been baptized and trying to live the Christian life, but your prayer life is not as it should be? 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