"The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:1-3

Purpose, what is purpose? The word purpose is defined as the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists. And just as heads up, if your not dead yet God is not done with you yet. God has created each and every one of us with a purpose in mind, and not one of us is here by chance. Meaning that God has a plan for your life, and mine as well.

And how do I know this? Jeremiah 29:11 makes it plain and it's a very familiar verse that says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future".  We're talking about purpose, and yes we know God has a plan.

And God's ultimate purpose for us is to reflect His image within our lives with the calling He gives us to prepare us for the kingdom. But I want to let you know that even though God has a plan and purpose for our lives it won't always make sense to us.

It seemed this way for Abraham, I mean looking at the scripture, (Genesis 12:1-3) it just doesnt make sense looking from the human eye. But there’s three things about purpose I want to bring to your attention.

(1)  When God calls you to your purpose, God will bring you to unfamiliar surroundings. Even though you may not know where you going you must trust God.

Looking back at the text in Genesis 12:1 God doesn’t even tell Abraham the name of the land or tell him where he is supposed to go, God just tells Abraham to follow him.  Now from a humans perspective that just doesn’t make sense. For example, say if someone tells you to go get some food and they didn’t tell you what kind of food, or where to get it at. You are most likely going to ask what kind of food? And most importantly, where do you want me to go to get this food? So to leave everything you know for 75 years and go follow God takes some serious faith, but Abraham didn’t ask any questions, he just did as God told him. In Hebrews 11:6 it says "without faith its impossible to please him".  But what I've learned is that you can't just say you have faith, but you have to move out on your faith just like Abraham did. In the book of James it says that, "faith without works is dead".  Abraham had no idea where he was going but he still trusted and had faith in Gods plan. That leads us to the second point.

(2)  When walking in God's purpose for your life He will show you, "you".

In Genesis the text shows what Abraham was called to do, and for Abraham God just didn't tell him to leave everything but He told Abraham what his purpose was and who he was going to become for God's glory. The texts tells us that Abrahams purpose and calling was to be the father of many nations and to be great.  He was to be a blessing to all those who are on the earth. Whenever you’re walking in Gods purpose for your life you will be a blessing to those around you. Whether your a nurse, a coach, a pastor, or a social worker, God will use your testimony as a witness for Him.  Your life will be a blessing to those around you and I can witness to that.

Abraham's calling was not only his purpose, but was a blessing for him as well. And I've learned that sometimes God's blessings we receive within our purpose can be hindered if we are disobedient.  In the scripture Abraham's name is not yet Abraham but it's Abram. Since our blessings from God can be hindered by our disobedience, that means that if Abram disobeyed God his name wouldn't have been changed from Abram to Abraham which means "father of many nations".  God wouldn't have made his name great or made him into a great nation.  So your character and purpose is based on your obedience to God, and if you dont cooperate with God there will be no growth in character, your purpose in God will never be fullfilled, and you wont be able to receive God's blessings within your purpose. 

(3) God's blessings of favor in your purpose come with a cost!

When God called Abraham to his purpose it wasn't anything easy to do. He was living in his fathers household for 75 years and God told him to leave everything he had because God had a specific purpose in mind for Abraham.  The purpose God had was that Abraham would be apart of the lineage that would bring Jesus Christ into the world. God told him to leave everything he had ever known which meant leaving familiar surroundings and all of his family behind. But when God is calling you to follow him and walk in your purpose this is what you have to do for in Matthew 16:24 Jesus says "if people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. They must be willing even to give up their lives to follow me".   You will never know your purpose until you know Jesus. And then Jesus promises what we will gain if we choose to follow Him, and walk in our purpose He has called us to in Luke 18:29-30 in which Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, all those who have left houses, wives, brothers, parents, or children for the kingdom of God, will get much more in this life. And in the age that is coming, they will have life forever".  In this scripture we see what Abraham chose in following God, and this is what we must choose in order to know God's purpose for our lives and receive eternal life.

Contributing Writer, Daniel Bennett

Daniel Bennett jr is an evangelist, writer, and ministerial student at Oakwood University.

He's From Seattle Washington and his desire is to see Jesus Christ will done within his life!