FROM THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE WHAT Earth

1 FROMTHE PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFEAM IonEarthfor? 9/16/04 3:24 PM Page 1 What on Earth Am I Here For?Copyright 2002, 2004 by Rick WarrenRequests for information should be addressed to:Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 ISBN 0-310-26483-9 ISBN 0-310-25700-XAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, storedin a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except forbrief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of by Michael Halbert, Copyright 2002 Michael HalbertPrinted in the United States of America04 05 06 07 08 09 10 / 9/16/04 3:24 PM Page 2AM IonEarthfor?

2 9/16/04 3:24 PM Page 9/16/04 3:24 PM Page 4It All Starts with GodIt s not about purpose of your life is far greater thanyour own personal fulfillment, your peace ofmind, or even your happiness. It s far greaterthan your family, your career, or even yourwildest dreams and ambitions. If you want toknow why you were placed on this planet, youmust begin with God. You were born byhispurpose and for his search for the purpose of life has puzzledpeople for thousands of years. That s becausewe typically begin at the wrong starting point ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like, What do I want to be? What should Ido withmylife? What are mygoals, my ambitions, mydreams for myfuture?

3 But focusing on ourselves will never revealour life s purpose . The Bible says, It is Godwho directs the lives of his creatures; everyone slife is in his power. 1 Contrary to what many popular books,movies, and seminars tell you, you won t dis-cover your life s meaning by looking ve probably tried that didn t create yourself, so there is no wayyou can tell yourself what you were created for!If I handed you an invention you had neverseen before, you wouldn t know its purpose , 9/16/04 3:24 PM Page 5and the invention itself wouldn t be able to tellyou either. Only the creator or the owner smanual could reveal its once got lost in the mountains. When Istopped to ask for directions to the campsite,I was told, You can t get there from start from the other side of the moun-tain!

4 In the same way, you cannot arrive atyour life s purpose by starting with a focus onyourself. You must begin with God, yourCreator. You exist only because God wills thatyou exist. You were made byGod and forGod and until you understand that, life willnever make sense. It is only in God that wediscover our origin, our identity, our mean-ing, our purpose , our significance, and ourdestiny. Every other path leads to a dead people try to use God for their ownself-actualization. They want God to be a per-sonal genie who serves their self-centereddesires. But that is a reversal of nature and isdoomed to failure. You were made for God, notvice versa, and life is about letting God useyou forhispurposes, not your using him foryour own Bible says, Obsessionwith self in these matters is a dead end; attentionto God leads us out into the open, into a spacious,free life .

5 2I ve read many books that suggest ways todiscover the purpose of my life . All of themcould be classified as self-help books 9/16/04 3:24 PM Page 6they approach the subject from a self-centeredviewpoint. Self-help books usually offer thesame predictable steps to finding your life spurpose: Consider your dreams. Figure outwhat you are good at. Clarify your values. Setsome goals. Aim high. Believe you can achieveit. Be disciplined. Never give course, these recommendations are allgood and often lead to great success. You canusually succeed in reaching a goal if you putyour mind to it. But being successful andfulfilling your life s purpose are not at allthesame issue!

6 You could reach all your personalgoals, becoming a raving success by the world sstandard, and stillmiss the purposes for whichGod created you. You need more than self-helpadvice. Jesus Christ once said, Self-help is nohelp at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, tofinding yourself, your true self. 3 This booklet is not about finding the rightcareer, achieving your dreams, or planningyour life . It is not about how to cram moreactivities into an overloaded schedule. Actually,knowing your purpose will allow you to do lessin life by focusing on what matters most. Itis about becoming what Godcreated you to , then, do you discover the purposeyou were created for? You have only twooptions.

7 your first option is speculation. Thisis where most people are. They just guess orspeculate or theorize about the purpose of 9/16/04 3:24 PM Page 7 When someone says, I ve always thoughtthepurpose of life is .. , they re really saying, This is the best guess I can come up with. For thousands of years brilliant philosophershave discussed and speculated about the mean-ing of life . Philosophy is an important subjectand has its uses, but when it comes to deter-mining the purpose of life , even the wisestphilosophers are just Hugh Moorhead, a philosophy professorat Northeastern Illinois University, once wroteto 250 of the best-known philosophers, scien-tists, writers, and intellectuals in the world andasked each person What is the meaning of life ?

8 He then published their responses which werequite discouraging in a book. Some of thesefamous thinkers offered their best guesses, someadmitted that they just made up a purpose forlife, and others were honest enough to say theywere clueless. In fact, a number of these intel-lectuals asked Professor Moorhead to write backand tell them if he discovered the purpose oflife!4 Fortunately, there is a better alternative tospeculation about the meaning and purpose oflife. The easiest way to discover the purposeof an invention is to ask the creator to explainit. The same method works for discovering yourlife s purpose . You can find what God, yourcreator, has revealed about life in his Word, theBible.

9 Revelation beats speculation any 9/16/04 3:24 PM Page 8 God has not left us in the dark to wonderand has clearly revealed his fivepurposes for our lives through the Bible. It isour Owner s Manual, explaining why we arealive, how life works, what to avoid, and whatto expect in the future. It explains what no self-help or philosophy book could know. God swisdom .. goes deep into the interior of hispurposes.. It s not the latest message, but morelike the oldest what God determined as the wayto bring out his best in us. 5 God is not just the starting point of your life ;he is the sourceof it. To discover your purposein life you must turn to God s Word, not theworld s best guesses.

10 You must build your life on unchanging, eternal truths, not the ever-changing opinions of talk shows, pop psych-ology fads, or success-motivation seminars. TheBible says, It s in Christ that we find out who weare and what we are living for. Long before wefirst heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he hadhis eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living,part of the overall purpose he is working out ineverything and everyone. 6 This verse gives usthree insights into your , you discover your identity andpurpose through a relationship withJesus you don t have such arelationship, I ll explain later how youcan begin one. 9/16/04 3:24 PM Page 9 Second, God was thinking of you longbefore you ever thought about purpose for your life predates yourconception.