Seek Your True Purpose
6 min read
Seek Your True Purpose
Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you, Matthew 6:33
Always keep the true purpose of life before your eyes, and strive after it with all your might so that it will always and eternally be well with you. —Willem Teellink
Willem Teellink (1579-1629), Dutch Reformed father of the Further Reformation and master of the spiritual life, has some sage advice worth considering. Years of pastoring coupled with a joyful commitment to religious exercises uniquely equipped him to address the perennial problem of human existence— our purpose. In his short book The Path of True Godliness, Teellink identifies the purpose of life and how we might go about maximizing that purpose. In utterly plain language, he writes, “our real purpose in life is to do all things for God’s glory, for the progress of our soul’s salvation, and to win others so that they may be saved.” Simply put: We exist to bring God glory; we find that glory in salvation and reflect that glory in sharing it with others.With exacting precision, Teellink unpacks each element contained within the purpose of life and identifies the ways in which we fail to acquire it. Specifically, he brings his discussion on the purpose of life to bear upon considerations of spiritual warfare. What do I mean? Only that you and I have an enemy, Satan and his powers of evil, committed to peeling our time, our talents, and our treasures away from our divinely given purpose so as to rob God of his glory. What are these “crafty attacks” that Teellink identifies so that we can avoid them?The first is ignorance. “Our spiritual enemy persuades many people to live in total wantonness, just as they please, without ever knowing the purpose of life.” Teellink rightly points out the spiritual and moral consequences of living ignorant of our purpose. All of us, every human being on earth, was created for Divine glory and so a failure to know this purpose degrades God given dignity into varying degrees of self-centered immorality or wantonness. In cruel twist, such wasteful living actually propagates and insulates our ignorance. But a failure to know what we ought to know is no excuse. So, what better way to swerve us from the path than by ignorance of what God desires? Teellink observes that these people “go on walking thoughtlessly” right into eternal darkness! The second attack is more indirect. Instead of pursuing their life’s purpose, some people chase after dreams and goals irrelevant to eternity:
“Satan holds a wrong goal before some people’s eyes and minds, and they will not be moved from it. For example, they want to build their own house, increase in wealth, leave their children a rich inheritance…They focus all their energies on this goal and are so busy pursuing it that it becomes their most important occupation. The work of the Lord is nothing to them but a drag.”
To be sure, there is nothing inherently wrong with leveraging the things of this world for the sake of flourishing, but Teellink challenges us to think through our motives and intentions. Am I leveraging my gifts for the Kingdom of God or attempting to build my own little kingdom?The last attack is the most subtle and seductive. Here a man or woman pursues the right object, God’s glory, but does so only half-heartedly. There is just enough effort to calm a tender conscience, but such believers fail to pour out their souls for the work God has given them. How might we tell the difference? Teellink gives us a discernment tool:
“Although these people seem to make the glory of God their priority in life, they fail to do it with the firm conviction and commitment that they should. As long as they can accomplish this purpose with ease and as long as circumstances are favorable for their flesh, they are fine. But they back out whenever putting God first conflicts with their own profit or popularity or something else they cherish.”
If I quit when things get hard, or uncomfortable, or walk away when “godliness” fails to satisfy my need for affirmation or fulfillment, it’s likely that God’s glory isn’t really my purpose. If I am okay with giving God his due so long as the cost is minimal and relatively easy then Teellink suggests we are, in fact, serving ourselves. Oh Christians! How wrong everything is when our hearts delude us in this way!How about you? Do you know your purpose? Are you living out that purpose now? These questions consistently press us back to reflect upon our standing before God. Does my soul exist for his glory? Truly? There is not greater joy in life than to fully live out your purpose and no greater struggle than in pouring your life out for the same
“Think how terrible and monstrous it would be if the sun, created to give light to the world, were to spread thick darkness instead. What terror this would cause ! How horrible it would be for us! Or if fire, created to give heat, were to discharge fierce frigid cold! Consider further what it means when a Christian, created and regenerated to let his spiritual light shine and so glorify God, misses the purpose of his life…”
Father, you are so loving and gracious to us and we are so utterly powerless without you! Please be merciful to us and help us see that you and you alone are all we could ever want or need. Help us to pour out every drop of your grace in service to you, for we are but unworthy servants. Our hearts desire is to be found waiting with lamps burning, ready and anxious to see your face.
Seek Your True Purpose
Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you, Matthew 6:33
Always keep the true purpose of life before your eyes, and strive after it with all your might so that it will always and eternally be well with you. —Willem Teellink
Willem Teellink (1579-1629), Dutch Reformed father of the Further Reformation and master of the spiritual life, has some sage advice worth considering. Years of pastoring coupled with a joyful commitment to religious exercises uniquely equipped him to address the perennial problem of human existence— our purpose. In his short book The Path of True Godliness, Teellink identifies the purpose of life and how we might go about maximizing that purpose. In utterly plain language, he writes, “our real purpose in life is to do all things for God’s glory, for the progress of our soul’s salvation, and to win others so that they may be saved.” Simply put: We exist to bring God glory; we find that glory in salvation and reflect that glory in sharing it with others.With exacting precision, Teellink unpacks each element contained within the purpose of life and identifies the ways in which we fail to acquire it. Specifically, he brings his discussion on the purpose of life to bear upon considerations of spiritual warfare. What do I mean? Only that you and I have an enemy, Satan and his powers of evil, committed to peeling our time, our talents, and our treasures away from our divinely given purpose so as to rob God of his glory. What are these “crafty attacks” that Teellink identifies so that we can avoid them?The first is ignorance. “Our spiritual enemy persuades many people to live in total wantonness, just as they please, without ever knowing the purpose of life.” Teellink rightly points out the spiritual and moral consequences of living ignorant of our purpose. All of us, every human being on earth, was created for Divine glory and so a failure to know this purpose degrades God given dignity into varying degrees of self-centered immorality or wantonness. In cruel twist, such wasteful living actually propagates and insulates our ignorance. But a failure to know what we ought to know is no excuse. So, what better way to swerve us from the path than by ignorance of what God desires? Teellink observes that these people “go on walking thoughtlessly” right into eternal darkness! The second attack is more indirect. Instead of pursuing their life’s purpose, some people chase after dreams and goals irrelevant to eternity:
“Satan holds a wrong goal before some people’s eyes and minds, and they will not be moved from it. For example, they want to build their own house, increase in wealth, leave their children a rich inheritance…They focus all their energies on this goal and are so busy pursuing it that it becomes their most important occupation. The work of the Lord is nothing to them but a drag.”
To be sure, there is nothing inherently wrong with leveraging the things of this world for the sake of flourishing, but Teellink challenges us to think through our motives and intentions. Am I leveraging my gifts for the Kingdom of God or attempting to build my own little kingdom?The last attack is the most subtle and seductive. Here a man or woman pursues the right object, God’s glory, but does so only half-heartedly. There is just enough effort to calm a tender conscience, but such believers fail to pour out their souls for the work God has given them. How might we tell the difference? Teellink gives us a discernment tool:
“Although these people seem to make the glory of God their priority in life, they fail to do it with the firm conviction and commitment that they should. As long as they can accomplish this purpose with ease and as long as circumstances are favorable for their flesh, they are fine. But they back out whenever putting God first conflicts with their own profit or popularity or something else they cherish.”
If I quit when things get hard, or uncomfortable, or walk away when “godliness” fails to satisfy my need for affirmation or fulfillment, it’s likely that God’s glory isn’t really my purpose. If I am okay with giving God his due so long as the cost is minimal and relatively easy then Teellink suggests we are, in fact, serving ourselves. Oh Christians! How wrong everything is when our hearts delude us in this way!How about you? Do you know your purpose? Are you living out that purpose now? These questions consistently press us back to reflect upon our standing before God. Does my soul exist for his glory? Truly? There is not greater joy in life than to fully live out your purpose and no greater struggle than in pouring your life out for the same
“Think how terrible and monstrous it would be if the sun, created to give light to the world, were to spread thick darkness instead. What terror this would cause ! How horrible it would be for us! Or if fire, created to give heat, were to discharge fierce frigid cold! Consider further what it means when a Christian, created and regenerated to let his spiritual light shine and so glorify God, misses the purpose of his life…”
Father, you are so loving and gracious to us and we are so utterly powerless without you! Please be merciful to us and help us see that you and you alone are all we could ever want or need. Help us to pour out every drop of your grace in service to you, for we are but unworthy servants. Our hearts desire is to be found waiting with lamps burning, ready and anxious to see your face.
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