Living Life On Purpose

Are You Living Your Life on Autopilot?

Have you ever driven to work, to your local grocery store, or your child to school and realized after you were almost there that you’d been operating on autopilot? Traveling a familiar route can lend itself to distracted thoughts or planning out the day in our mind until we realize that we’ve almost reached our destination and don’t even remember getting there.

Unfortunately, this type of ‘operating on autopilot’ can creep into more than just our morning commute. Hurried days can turn into hurried weeks, months, years…and then what? It’s entirely possible to travel along a path almost subconsciously, hardly in control of our thoughts, our lives, or our relationship with God.

If this sounds way too familiar, it’s okay. God is fully aware of the way we operate and the obstacles that we come up against. That’s why He gave us Proverbs 4, to help us live our lives on purpose.

Living Your Life on Purpose

Sounds like a catchy book title, doesn’t it? But what does it really mean to live our life on purpose. Honestly, living on purpose has to do with paying attention. Autopilot, daydreaming, going through the motions–all of those phrases basically mean the same thing; a lack of ‘paying attention.’

The main point of Proverbs 4 can be found in verse 23:

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. KJV

Looking at the scripture in The Message Bible (from verse 23-27), makes living on purpose alarmingly clear.

Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts.
Don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip.
Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions.
Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you.
Look neither right nor left; leave evil in the dust.

Human nature, or the carnal part of us, is always trying to pull us away from a purposeful life in which we enjoy the peace of God, rich relationships with our family and our Creator, along with overall health of mind, body, and spirit.

That’s why God instructs us to “pay attention” and “guard our heart with all diligence.”

You can’t really guard something without focusing your attention on it.  So that takes care of the autopilot part right there. Let’s say you’ve been put in charge of the entrance to a very important event and you were given strict instructions to guard the door, only granting entrance to those whose names were on the list and had proper identification. What if you also knew that some individuals would try to show up with false credentials and fake their way in. You’d pay attention, right? You’d check your list along with the person’s identification, using your reasoning skills to decide whether this person was exactly who they claimed to be, wouldn’t you?

Well, guess what? That’s exactly what Proverbs 4:23 tell us to do with our heart–to guard it with all diligence. Why? Because sneaky infiltrators will try to creep in and drag us down, causing us to lapse back into old habits and lame excuses for the wrong choices we make.

The only way to overcome this trap is to “keep our heart” and judge our own motives on a continual basis. Ask God to reveal to you the choices you are making that are insincere, self-centered, and ungodly. Be prepared for an answer though, because He really will tell you.

Desire and Decision are Very Different

Christianity is more than a belief, a set of morals or a cozy feeling that you are a good person. Christianity is a verb.

Many of us desire to do what is right or believe in the correct ways, but putting action to our desire and making the decision to walk the walk is very different. That is why Proverbs 4 goes on to say, “Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or to the left…”

This has to do with living on purpose and choosing what is right. Many times you’ll hear the mocking in your head when you change the television channel or redirect a conversation because it has crossed the line. But if you can be trusted in these little things, if you can make small decisions that put action to your beliefs, then God will trust you with more. It’s all part of growing in Christ.

Sure, you’ve heard the excuses, “Why should I deny myself the pleasure of a television show that I thoroughly enjoy just because of one little part that I don’t agree with.” Okay, well you can live that way, it’s your choice. But think of it this way…If we don’t start with the little choices, where will we start?

Galatians 5:8 clearly tells us, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” But I’ll leave that up to you to decide what it means in your life.

Keep in mind, the pull of society on our families is constant and can quickly wear us down if we only desire God’s way of life, rather than making a decision to live it out. of it. We may desire to live a lifestyle that is compatible with God; but, if it is not a conviction and a decision, any number of pressures will cause us to stop making an effort to live His way of life.

Dictionary definitions tell us that a preference or desire is our first choice in a matter—which indicates that there are many other choices that we can take into consideration. But a conviction that leads to a decision is “life on purpose”.

Can you think of a decision you can make today that will cause you to live YOUR life on purpose? Leave a comment. You’ll be putting your thoughts down on “virtual” paper, solidifying your decision and encouraging others at the same time! Let’s live on purpose together.