‘To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven (Eccl 3:1.)
God gives every man a purpose. He told Jeremiah that he knew him before he formed him in the womb; sanctified him before he was born and ordained him a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5). The inspiration Moses’ parents had and how God kept him away from Pharaoh’s destruction in childhood made it obvious that God had a specific purpose for his life. Before Esau and Jacob were born, God revealed to their mum that they were two nations and the older will serve the younger. (Gen 25:22&23) Just as the Patriarchs and other great men in our contemporary world have purposes, you also have a purpose.
Every purpose has a time that God has allocated for it to reach perfection. That is why the Preacher said ‘To everything, there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven (Eccl 3:1). You have a limited time to fulfil the purpose (the assignment) that made God send you to this world. Hence it is important to discover this life assignment on time, learn to always number your days, and deliberately spend your time fulfilling it.
Discover your purpose and have a vision for your life
Many people live without understanding their life assignments. They may live to pay bills or become very wealthy but would always feel empty and unfulfilled because fulfilment of purpose is the key to fulfillment.
Some people are born to know what they want and how to achieve it while many others have to study and spend hours figuring out what to do with their lives. The nature of something is a powerful clue to its purpose and potential. Your uniqueness (Spiritual gifts, passion, ability, personality, and experience) points your attention to your purpose. Study the Bible, yourself, and pray until you are very sure of your life assignment.
As you ruminate, pray and plan around the purpose, God gives you a vision (mental picture of what the future should be) which should guide your life. {Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law. (Prov. 29:18)} Vision is like a drainage system that guards and limits the spread of water. Without a vision, your life spreads in different directions like water and make little or no impact. As you move closer to God and work on the vision, it becomes clearer and bigger.
Number your days and spend your time fulfilling your vision.
When you have discovered your purpose and cultivated a life vision, then you should spend your time fulfilling that vision. God gave you life (time) because of that vision, therefore, you cannot afford to spread yourself around doing other things. Let your purpose organize your life; determine your decisions, job, business, friends, activities, and other things. Time that is not used for its intended purpose is wasted and lost. Someone who has time to burn will never give much light to the world.
Consciously number your days, it will help you behave wisely and focus on your assignment. Many people reading this article have spent almost half of their lifetime if not more. How much of our life assignments have we achieved? I discovered my purpose in JSS 3 but I have not fulfilled half of the vision.
Fulfilling your purpose is the key to fulfillment
Do you want unending joy and fulfilment that cannot be explained? Believe that Jesus came to this world, died, and rose again to take your sins away. Confess what you believe. Surrender your life and accept him as your Lord and Saviour. Join a Bible- believing church and become active there serving God. Discover your life assignment and spend your time fulfilling it. You need to work on a job or business but that shouldn’t derail your purpose. In fact, your job or business should contribute to its fulfillment.