Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 519 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Your Purpose for Life - The Tools in Gramps' Backpack

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 519 of our trek, and last week we are started a new series called The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack.

Each Monday for a total of 20 weeks we will explore a different tool that is needed to equip parents and grandparents to train their children and grandchildren to be successful on their trek of life. If you don’t have children or grandchildren of your own, use these tools to train others that you do influence. Today the second tool from Gramps’ Backpack is Purpose.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Since I am recording this before our delayed Christmas celebration with our children and grandchildren, I will report back on how that went on Wednesday’s podcast. It is a blessing to share life with our family and remember joys of the past and share our hopes and dreams for the future.

If you were fortunate to have loving parents and grandparents when you were growing up, did you ever wonder what the purpose was for some of their tools or utensils that they used? There is a specific purpose for each tool, and if used properly, they can be very effective. In the same way, you have a very specific purpose in life, and you should fulfill your God-given purpose. As we explore each tool within Gramps’ backpack, let me know how these tools have helped you, and if you have anything that you would like to ask Gramps about your trek of life.

As we head out on our trek for today, let’s open Gramps’ backpack again and explore our second tool, which every parent or grandparent should have available to them. This tool is helpful to anyone who has the opportunity to impact others. To effectively and positively impact the lives of others, one tool that you must possess is a powerful sense of purpose.

Purpose

The second tool in Gramps’ backpack is an indispensable tool for building a rich and satisfying life. The tool that you must have is a clearly defined sense of purpose for your life. As the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians in Chapter 2:13, "For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him." In other words, you do God’s purpose.

God has a plan for your life, a plan that is near to His heart. If you genuinely seek to fulfill God’s plan for your life, there is a prerequisite. The most important decision of your life is your commitment to accept God’s Son as your personal Lord and Savior. Once your eternal destiny is secured, the next question to ask yourself is, “What now, Lord?” If you earnestly seek God’s will, you will find it…in time. God is not in a hurry as He shapes us into His image and will reveal His purpose for the various seasons of our life.

Life is best lived on purpose.  Purpose, like everything else in the universe, begins in the heart of God.  Whether you realize it or not, God has a direction for your life, a divine calling, a path along which He intends to lead you.  When you welcome God into your heart and establish a genuine relationship with Him, He will begin, and He will continue, to make His purposes known.

Sometimes, God’s intentions will be clear to you; other times, God’s plan will seem uncertain at best. Even on those difficult days when you are unsure which way to turn, you must never lose sight of these overriding facts. God created you for a reason. He has important work for you to do, and He’s waiting patiently for you to grow and mature. He’s waiting patiently for you to fulfill that purpose each day.