This past week my daughter, Rebekah, made a wreath out of paper roses. She made it for a purpose. She wanted to give it as a gift to my wife, and she wanted it to be pretty. Then on Tuesday, she made an apple pastry. It, too, had a purpose: she wanted us to eat it. The reality is that everything we make we make for a purpose. When Ford makes a car, the car has a purpose. When a construction company builds a home, the home has a purpose. A screw has a purpose. A broom has a purpose. A painting has a purpose. A doorknob has a purpose. Everything we make has a purpose. In fact, if no purpose existed, we wouldn’t make anything. And the purpose doesn’t always have to be physical. Sometimes the purpose is simply to show love, like my daughter’s wreath. Sometimes the purpose may be to learn or to explore. Sometimes the purpose may be to express beauty. But our experience shows that created things have a purpose, and based on what we can see, they have a purpose 100% of the time. When you find something created, you find a purpose. Period.
OK. What then do we do with this universal human desire for purpose? The desire is certainly not proof that there is a purpose, but it does seem as if, deep down, we humans have yearnings you would expect us to have if we were created. Created things have purpose; we want purpose. Hmm.
Now this desire we have for purpose is not just generic. We do not want merely for life to have meaning in some vague sense; we each desire personal fulfillment in our own lives. Purpose gets personal. You want to reflect the purpose for which you exist. You do. This is what a fulfilling life would be. The pursuit of purpose is a pursuit of fulfillment.
Even the atheist wants this. He wants to be helpful, useful or good. He wants to positively impact people. He does not wish to let life pass by without living it. The pursuit of “the good life” is a pursuit of fulfillment. The grabbing of power, the quest for influence or fame, the indulging of pleasure are all attempts to gain fulfillment and purpose from life. The single woman thinks a husband will fulfill her, so she pursues one. The executive thinks that turning around a flailing corporation will fulfill him, so he pours his life into the project. The young couple think a better home and nicer vacations will fulfill them, so they work toward that end. A father and mother believe that a respectful son will fulfill them, so they live for him. When people pursue whatever they pursue, they are really pursuing fulfillment. They want purpose.
But this pursuit is hopeless apart from God. Without God all the money in the world will not satisfy. Fame, influence, accomplishments, seeing the world, sexual encounters, a husband and wonderful children all fail to deliver what we hope they will. Many of those things are good; but when we try to make them ultimate, they cannot fill the shoes. Ultimacy can be met only through that which is ultimate, and life on earth was never created to be that thing. The good things in life are just pictures. They are not the real thing. I may keep a picture of my wife on my computer and pull it up and look at her and derive some enjoyment from it, but the picture will not hold me, talk to me or care for me. If I want those things, I must leave the picture behind and go home to the reality. The pursuit of earth is an attempt to replace God with His gifts. It is pursuing God in all the wrong places.
You see, in the end, there is no purpose apart from God. Genuine purpose goes beyond a shallow survival of the species or a “let’s all be happy” mindset. Those ideas will give no purpose to your life, and deep down you know it. If you want real purpose, you need a Creator. Because … purpose … flows out of … creation.
