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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
WHAT ON EARTH
AM I HERE FOR?
A life devoted1 to things is a dead life, a stump2; 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)
It All Starts with God
For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible,. . . everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. Colossians 1:16 (Msg) Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless. Bertrand Russell, atheist3
It's not about you.
The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It's far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.
The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That's because we typically begin at the wrong starting point-ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose. The Bible says, "It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone's life is in his power”
Contrary to what many popular books, movies, and seminars tell you, you won't discover your life's meaning by looking within yourself. You've probably tried that already. You didn't create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for! If I handed you an invention you had never seen before, you wouldn't know its purpose, and the invention itself wouldn't be able to tell you either. Only the creator or the owner's manual could reveal its purpose.
I once got lost in the mountains. When I stopped to ask for directions to the campsite, I was told, "You can't get there from here. You must start from the other side of the mountain!" In the same way, you cannot arrive at your life's purpose by starting with a focus on yourself. You must begin with God, your Creator. You exist only because God wills that you exist. You were made by God and for God-and until you understand that, life will never make sense. It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our
destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end.
Many people try to use God for their own self-actualization, but that is a reversal of nature and is doomed4 to failure. You were made for God, not vice5 versa, and life is about letting God use you for his purposes, not your using him for your own purpose. The Bible says, "Obsession6 with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious7, free life.'2
I have read many books that suggest ways to discover the purpose of my life. All of them could be classified as "self-help" books because they approach the subject from a self-centered viewpoint. Self-help books, even Christian8 ones, usually offer the same predictable steps to finding your life's purpose: Consider your dreams. Clarify your values. Set some goals. Figure out what you are good at. Aim high. Go for it! Be disciplined. Believe you can 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 mind to it. But being successful and fulfilling your life's purpose are not at all the same issue! You could reach all your personal goals, becoming a raving9 success by the world's standard, and still miss the purposes for which God created you. You need more than self-help advice. The Bible says, "Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self.”
This is not a self-help book. It is not about finding the right career, achieving your dreams, or planning your life. It is not about how to cram10 more activities into an overloaded11 schedule. Actually, it will teach you how to do less in life-by focusing on what matters 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 speculation12. This is what most people choose. They conjecture13, they guess, they theorize. When people say, "I've always thought life is . . . ," they mean, "This is the best guess I can come up with."
For thousands of years, brilliant philosophers have discussed and speculated about the meaning of life. Philosophy is an important subject and has its uses, but when it comes to determining the purpose of life, even the wisest philosophers are just guessing.
Dr. Hugh Moorhead, a philosophy professor at Northeastern Illinois University, once wrote to 250 of the best-known philosophers, scientists, writers, and intellectuals in the world, asking them, "What is the meaning of life?" He then published their responses in a book. Some offered their best guesses, some admitted that they just made up a purpose for life, and others were honest enough to say they were clueless. In fact, a number of famous intellectuals asked Professor Moorhead to write back and tell them if he discovered the purpose of life!
Fortunately, there is an alternative to speculation about the meaning and purpose of life. It's revelation. We can turn to what God has revealed about life in his Word. The easiest way to discover 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 has clearly revealed his five purposes for our lives through the Bible. It is our Owner's Manual, explaining why we are alive, how life
works, what to avoid, and what to expect in the future. It explains what no self-help or philosophy book could know. The Bible says, "God's wisdom ... goes deep into the interior of his purposes.... It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest-what
God determined14 as the way to bring out his best in us." God is not just the starting point of your life; he is the source of it. To discover your purpose in life you must turn to God's Word, not the world's wisdom.
You must build your life on eternal truths, not pop psychology15, success-motivation, or inspirational stories. The Bible says, "It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone." This verse gives us three insights into your purpose.
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 input16! You may choose your career, your spouse17, 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 eternity18. That's what this book is about.
Andrei Bitov, a Russian novelist, grew up under an atheistic19 Communist regime. But God got his attention one dreary20 day. He recalls, "In my twenty-seventh year, while riding the metro21 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) I was overcome with a despair so great that life seemed to stop at once, preempting22 the future entirely23, let alone any meaning. Suddenly, all by itself, a phrase appeared: Without God life makes no sense. Repeating it in astonishment24, I rode the phrase up like a moving staircase, got out 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 advertising25 around me, how can I remind myself that life is really about living for God, not myself?
收听单词发音 |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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atheist
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| n.无神论者 | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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obsession
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| n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感) | |
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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raving
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| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
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cram
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| v.填塞，塞满，临时抱佛脚，为考试而学习 | |
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overloaded
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| a.超载的，超负荷的 | |
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speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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psychology
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| n.心理，心理学，心理状态 | |
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input
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| n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机 | |
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spouse
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| n.配偶(指夫或妻) | |
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eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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atheistic
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| adj.无神论者的 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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metro
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| n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售) | |
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preempting
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| v.先占( preempt的现在分词 )；取代；先取；先发制人 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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advertising
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| n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的 | |
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