It’s a question that most of us ask at some point in our lives as we consider the purpose of our lives: why am I here? There is this hard-wired desire in the DNA of each us to know the reason we were born and remain alive on this earth. You may state the conclusion differently than I do, but the words of my personal mission statement offer the basic meaning for why God gets us up each morning: “I exist to know Jesus and make Him known so that God is honored in us and we are happy in Him.” Starting with ourselves and spreading to our circles of influence, we are after one ultimate objective: an honored God and happy people. How do we accomplish this? By making disciples who make disciples. A disciple is a follower of Jesus. Discipleship is the ongoing process of following Jesus. Disciple-making is the ongoing process of helping others follow Jesus. The practical reason why you and I haven’t already been called home to heaven is because we have been left here to help other people take the next step in their spiritual journeys with Him toward heaven. To mature in and multiply our own faith, and help others do the same. To make a difference, make disciples who make much of Jesus! The specific details will vary for each of us, but for every person in the family of God whose heart still beats, we have one common aim and ambition for the rest of our lives: to make the greatest difference for the greatest length of time. And there is nothing we can ever do on this side of eternity that will have more significance and more endurance than being used of God to impact the eternities of other people so that He is fully and forever honored by us, and we are fully and forever happy in Him.
