Purpose

Well, it has been awhile since my last post (sorry, to all my dedicated fans out there. :) ). I guess you could say I haven’t been that inspired lately. However, today is different.

Today is the birthday of a dear friend of mine who lives in Colorado (Happy Birthday, Ethan!!) In keeping with the age of text messages, g-mail, and e-vites, I decided to him an e-card. As I was eagerly looking through the vast array of e-cards, I stumbled upon one that, from the picture, looked as if it would be perfect for Ethan. When I previewed my selection, I found it to be more fitting than I had originally hoped.

Purpose to seek Him
He will be your reward
Purpose to know Him
He will reveal Himself to you
Purpose to follow Him
He will lead the way
Purpose to enjoy Him
He will be your closest friend
Purpose to praise Him
He will be your song
Purpose to trust Him
He will be your provider

On your birthday, may your heart rejoice in all He has done for you.
The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me… Psalm 138:8

This e-card proved to serve in me as a reminder. A reminder of who I am, what I am, and whose I am. Who am I? I’m Adam Haynes. Husband of Danielle. Son of James & Kaye. Brother of Amanda. I am me. No one else is me. I am the only me there has ever been or ever will be (hey...no comments out there). Whose am I? I am my Creator’s. My life is His who created it. I am my Savior’s. My life is His who saved it. What am I? Fallen. Fallen from the place God intended me to be. Created by God in perfection. Born by man in sin. Fallen.

God designed our hearts, our minds, our emotions, our thoughts, everything that we are to be aligned with His. And yet, in our pride and arrogance—in our sin, we destroyed the divine order of our very being. We as citizens of the human race can no longer naturally seek Him, enjoy Him, or trust Him. Instead, our inner most desires yield selfishness, contempt, anxiety, deception, doubt, etc.

BUT…

Then came grace. Through God’s grace and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our souls have been restored. We can begin anew. Our hearts can again sing praises to Him. Our lives can again be a sweet aroma to Him. We have been lifted from the fallen state in which we’d wallowed, and in His strength, we have been raised into a relationship that is right.

It’s not easy though—as the old adage says, “Old habits die hard.” We must now work for that relationship that was intended to come so easily. We must be diligent in seeking God. We must be attentive to hear from God. We must purpose to follow Him.

purpose
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): pur•posed; pur•pos•ing
: to propose as an aim to oneself

Merriam Webster used the verb "aim" to define purpose. On the flip side, sin is defined as “missing the mark.” We must set our hearts to know Him. We must aim—purpose—to enjoy Him. And in this, God will fulfill His purpose for us.

Now back to my birthday wishes. For those of you that may not know Ethan Moore, he is one of the truest people I know. And by that I mean, he knows who he is and whose he is. He seeks the Lord genuinely and, in that, finds his purpose. Ethan has purposed in his heart to know God. And faithfully, God has revealed Himself to him and is working through Ethan and his ministry. Happy birthday, brother!