Chapter One
A JOURNEY
WITH PURPOSE
Getting the Most from This Book
This is more than a book; it is a guide to a 40-day spiritualjourney that will enable you to discover the answer to life''s mostimportant question: What on earth am I here for? By the end ofthis journey you will know God''s purpose for your life and willunderstand the big picture-how all the pieces of your life fittogether. Having this perspective will reduce your stress, simplifyyour decisions, increase your satisfaction, and, most important,prepare you for eternity.
Your Next 40 Days
Today the average life span is 25,550 days. That''s how longyou will live if you are typical. Don''t you think it would be a wiseuse of time to set aside 40 of those days to figure out what Godwants you to do with the rest of them?
The Bible is clear that God considers 40 days a spirituallysignificant time period. Whenever God wanted to preparesomeone for his purposes, he took 40 days:
Noah''s life was transformed by 40 days of rain.
Moses was transformed by 40 days on Mount Sinai.
The spies were transformed by 40 days in the Promised Land.
David was transformed by Goliath''s 40-day challenge.
Elijah was transformed when God gave him 40 days of
strength from a single meal.
The entire city of Nineveh was transformed when God gave
the people 40 days to change.
Jesus was empowered by 40 days in the wilderness.
The disciples were transformed by 40 days with Jesus after
his resurrection.
The next 40 days will transform your life.
This book is divided into 40 brief chapters. I strongly urge youto read only one chapter a day, so you will have time to think aboutthe implications for your life. The Bible says, "Let God transformyou into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you willknow what God wants you to do."
One reason most books don''t transform us is that we are soeager to read the next chapter, we don''t pause and take the timeto seriously consider what we have just read. We rush to the nexttruth without reflecting on what we have learned.
Don''t just read this book. Interact with it. Underline it.Write your own thoughts in the margins. Make it your book.Personalize it! The books that have helped me most are the onesthat I reacted to, not just read.
Four Features to Help You
At the end of each chapter is a section called "Thinking aboutMy Purpose." There you will find:
A Point to Ponder. This is a nugget of truth that summarizes
a principle of purpose-driven living that you can reflect on
throughout your day. Paul told Timothy, "Reflect on what I
am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this."
A Verse to Remember. This is a Bible verse that teaches a
truth from that chapter. If you really want to improve your
life, memorizing Scripture may be the most important habit
you can begin. You can either copy these verses onto small
cards to carry with you, or purchase a Purpose-Driven Life
Scripture and Affirmation Pack.
A Question to Consider. These questions will help you
think about the implications of what you have read and how
it applies to you personally. Let me encourage you to write
your answers in the margin of this book or in a notebook, or
obtain a copy of The Purpose-Driven Life Journal, a
companion book designed for this purpose. Writing down
your thoughts is the best way to clarify them.
In appendix 1 you will find:
Discussion Questions. I strongly urge you to get one or more friends to join you in reading this book during the next 40 days. A journey is always better when it is shared. With a partner or a small reading group you can discuss what you read and bounce ideas off each other. This will help you grow stronger and deeper spiritually. Real spiritual growth is never an isolated, individualistic pursuit. Maturity is produced through relationships and community.
The best way to explain God''s purpose for your life is to allowthe Scripture to speak for itself, so in this book the Bible isquoted extensively, using over a thousand different verses fromfifteen English translations and paraphrases. I have varied theversions used for several important reasons, which I explain inappendix 3.
I Have Been Praying for You
As I wrote this book, I often prayed that you would experiencethe incredible sense of hope, energy, and joy that comes fromdiscovering what God put you on this planet to do. There''snothing quite like it. I am excited because I know all the greatthings that are going to happen to you. They happened to me,and I have never been the same since I discovered the purpose ofmy life.
Because I know the benefits, I want to challenge you to stickwith this spiritual journey for the next 40 days, not missing asingle daily reading. Your life is worth taking the time to thinkabout it. Make it a daily appointment on your schedule. If youwill commit to this, let''s sign a covenant together. There issomething significant about signing your name to a commitment.If you get a partner to read through this with you, have him orher sign it, too. Let''s get started together!
My Covenant
With God''s help, I commit the next 40 days of my
life to discovering God''s purpose for my life.
___________________________________________________________
Your name
___________________________________________________________
Partner''s name
___________________________________________________________
Rick Warren
"Two are better off than one, because together they
can work more effectively. If one of them falls down,
the other can help him up ... Two people can resist
an attack that would defeat one person alone.
A rope made of three cords is hard to break."
Ecclesiastes 4:9 (TEV)
WHAT ON EARTH
AM I HERE FOR?
A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump;
a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.
Proverbs 11:28 (Msg)
Blessed are those who trust in the Lord....
They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with
roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees
are not bothered by the heat or worried by long
months of drought. Their leaves stay green,
and they go right on producing delicious fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NLT)
viewpoint. Self-help books, even Christian ones, usually offer thesame predictable steps to finding your life''s purpose: Consideryour dreams. Clarify your values. Set some goals. Figure out whatyou are good at. Aim high. Go for it! Be disciplined. Believe youcan achieve your goals. Involve others. Never give up.
Of course, these recommendations often lead to great success.You can usually succeed in reaching a goal if you put your mindto it. But being successful and fulfilling your life''s purpose are notat all the same issue! You could reach all your personal goals,becoming a raving success by the world''s standard, and still missthe purposes for which God created you. You need more thanself-help advice. The Bible says, "Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrificeis the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self."
This is not a self-help book. It is not about finding the rightcareer, achieving your dreams, or planning your life. It is not abouthow to cram more activities into an overloaded schedule. Actually,it will teach you how to do less in life-by focusing on whatmatters most. It is about becoming what God created you to be.
How, then, do you discover the purpose you were created for?You have only two options. Your first option is speculation. This iswhat most people choose. They conjecture, they guess, theytheorize. When people say, "I''vealways thought life is ...," theymean, "This is the best guess I cancome up with."
For thousands of years, brilliantphilosophers have discussed andspeculated about the meaning oflife. Philosophy is an importantsubject and has its uses, but when it comes to determining thepurpose of life, even the wisest philosophers are just guessing.
Dr. Hugh Moorhead, a philosophy professor at NortheasternIllinois University, once wrote to 250 of the best-knownphilosophers, scientists, writers, and intellectuals in the world,asking them, "What is the meaning of life?" He then publishedtheir responses in a book. Some offered their best guesses, someadmitted that they just made up a purpose for life, and otherswere honest enough to say they were clueless. In fact, a numberof famous intellectuals asked Professor Moorhead to write backand tell them if he discovered the purpose of life!
Fortunately, there is an alternative to speculation about themeaning and purpose of life. It''s revelation. We can turn to whatGod has revealed about life in his Word. The easiest way todiscover the purpose of an invention is to ask the creator of it.The same is true for discovering your life''s purpose: Ask God.
God has not left us in the dark to wonder and guess. He hasclearly revealed his five purposes for our lives through the Bible.It is our Owner''s Manual, explaining why we are alive, how lifeworks, what to avoid, and what to expect in the future. It explainswhat no self-help or philosophy book could know. The Bible says,"God''s wisdom ... goes deep into the interior of his purposes.... It''snot the latest message, but more like the oldest-whatGod determined as the way to bring out his best in us."
God is not just the starting point of your life; he isthe source of it. To discover your purpose in life youmust turn to God''s Word, not the world''s wisdom.You must build your life on eternal truths, not poppsychology, success-motivation, or inspirationalstories. The Bible says, "It''s in Christ that we find out who we areand what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ andgot our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for gloriousliving, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everythingand everyone." This verse gives us three insights into yourpurpose.
1. You discover your identity and purpose through a
relationship with Jesus Christ. If you don''t have such a
relationship, I will later explain how to begin one.
2. God was thinking of you long before you ever thought
about him. His purpose for your life predates your
conception. He planned it before you
existed, without your input! You may
choose your career, your spouse, your
hobbies, and many other parts of
your life, but you don''t get to choose
your purpose.
3. The purpose of your life fits into a much
larger, cosmic purpose that God has designed for
eternity. That''s what this book is about.
Andrei Bitov, a Russian novelist, grew up under an atheisticCommunist regime. But God got his attention one dreary day.He recalls, "In my twenty-seventh year, while riding the metro inLeningrad (now St. Petersburg) I was overcome with a despair sogreat that life seemed to stop at once, preempting the futureentirely, let alone any meaning. Suddenly, all by itself, a phraseappeared: Without God life makes no sense. Repeating it inastonishment, I rode the phrase up like a moving staircase, gotout of the metro and walked into God''s light."
You may have felt in the dark about your purpose in life.Congratulations, you''re about to walk into the light.
Day One
Thinking about My Purpose
Point to Ponder: It''s not about me.
Verse to Remember: "Everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him." Colossians 1:16b (Msg)
Question to Consider: In spite of all the advertising around me, how can I remind myself that life is really about living for God, not myself?
Chapter Two
You Are Not an Accident
I am your Creator. You were in my care
even before you were born.
Isaiah 44:2a (CEV)
God doesn''t play dice.
Albert Einstein
You are not an accident.
Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no flukeof nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did.He was not at all surprised by your birth. In fact, he expected it.
Long before you were conceived by your parents, you wereconceived in the mind of God. He thought of you first. It is notfate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you arebreathing at this very moment. You are alive because Godwanted to create you! The Bible says, "The Lord will fulfill hispurpose for me."
God prescribed every single detail of your body. Hedeliberately chose your race, the color of your skin, your hair, andevery other feature. He custom-made your body just the way hewanted it. He also determined the natural talents you wouldpossess and the uniqueness of your personality. The Bible says,"You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; Youknow exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted fromnothing into something."
Because God made you for a reason, he also decided when youwould be born and how long you would live. He planned the daysof your life in advance, choosing the exact time of your birth anddeath. The Bible says, "You saw me before I was born and scheduledeach day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recordedin your Book!"
God also planned where you''d be born and where you''d live forhis purpose. Your race and nationality are no accident. God leftno detail to chance. He planned it all for his purpose. The Biblesays, "From one man he made every nation, ... and he determinedthe times set for them and the exact places where they should live."Nothing in your life is arbitrary. It''s all for a purpose.
Continues...
Excerpted from The Purpose-Driven(r) Lifeby Rick Warren Copyright © 2002 by Rick Warren. Excerpted by permission.
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