day no. 13,310: the mission and the means‏

Run, John, run, the law commands, 
But gives us neither feet nor hands. 
Far better news the gospel brings: 
It bids us fly and gives us wings.

~ John Bunyan

I adore John Bunyan.

But I digress...

Finding out our purpose in life is not a pleasant thing.

If you discover you were made to fly and the sole purpose of your life is to fly freely, you might feel discouraged by the fact that you aren't a bird.

But if the purpose is accompanied by a promise, it brings hope.

It makes a purpose a delightful thing, a place to long for, a joyful pursuit.

But if we only discover our purpose with no promise of any progress, we are destroyed by despair and would have fared better to have never discovered our purpose in the first place.

God made us to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever.

That is bad news.

It's bad news because I don't do that very well or as often as I would like or how much He deserves and requires.

It is only Good News when we discover that God has promised to save us from falling short of our purpose and has provided a means through His Holy Spirit to rebirth us into new creations that are growing more purposeful.

He ultimately promises to make us who His Spirit urges us to be, who He deserves, who we were purposed to be.

A purpose married to a promise is Good News.

It gives us a mission AND the means to accomplish it.