Most of us have heard the phrase, “God has a purpose for your life.” Sometimes, we even question or try to discern exactly what God intends for us. Perhaps, a loved one, a friend, or even someone on television has stated that everyone has a purpose in this world, so we need to find it and adhere to it in order to please God. In reality, this quest for discovering our “purpose” stems from the age-old question of man asking himself, “Why am I here on this earth?”

Have you ever considered if there actually IS a specific reason, or purpose you are here? If so, what is it? Is it true that each individual has a determined purpose that they alone must fulfill? To add to the confusion, a wildly popular book titled, “The Purpose Driven Life” was published in 2002 by Rick Warren. It sold more than 30 million copies within the first few years and has had a major influence on beliefs of not only our denominational friends, but also the mindset of members of the Lord’s church. Unfortunately, it has had a negative influence because it espouses an ideology not completely consistent with the Bible. I’m not going to use this space to go into a deep theological critique of Warren’s book, (see me personally if you need more details) but suffice it to say he quite often incorrectly cites verses from the Bible to justify his erroneous doctrine. In other words, he does not “rightly divide the word of God,” (2 Timothy 2:15). Instead of listening to what some man has to say, why not just consider what God says, directly from His word?

First of all, there is no verse anywhere in the Bible that says God has a singular plan or purpose for each and every individual on the planet. In fact, what is said is “there is no partiality with God,” (Romans 2:11). This would certainly indicate that God expects the same from every single person and not some unique objective for every human being. That is why the apostle Paul said, “God commands all men everywhere to repent,” (Acts 17:30) and went on to write that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,” (1 Timothy 2:4). So, instead of an exclusive purpose for each individual, there is a specific expectation for the entire human race.

   Second, the wisest man that ever lived stated this, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all,” (Ecclesiastes 12:13 – NKJV). The last part of that verse has been translated in other versions as, “for this is the duty of all mankind,” (NIV); “this is the whole duty of man,” (ASV, ESV, KJV); “because this is all that we were created for,” (GNB); and “This is what life is all about,” (CEV). Is that not perfectly clear enough for us to understand? We were created for one very specific purpose and nothing more – to bring glory to God. His intention for you, the reason why you are here, and your purpose on this earth, is to simply, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself,” (Mark 12:30-31).