Why Are You Here?

Eph 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Have you ever heard Christianity referred to as "Fire Insurance?" I think as I grew up, I lived in a way that was spiritually very shallow. I purchased my Fire Insurance policy at a very early age and just to be really safe I soaked my sin in the waters of baptism to keep the fires of Hell from threatening my body after I died. I am constantly amazed at how patient and gracious God has been to me as he has lead me into Truth, and how he has shown restraint in dealing with the many displays of foolishness I have initiated. I remember the day I turned from rebellion as a 16 year old angry, disrespectful, argumentative...
It was a car wreck. I went to pizza with my younger brother and while there met a friend who had a very fast Chevy Nova. (I know, "Chevy" and "Fast" don't go together as well as "Chevy" and Rusted") He asked me if I had gotten a ride in his car yet and invited me along for a quick run down 18th St. We'd be back before the pizza was ready. Since I wasn't a total idiot, I started looking for both ends of the lap belt as we turned onto the straight stretch just behind a farmer in his pickup. I finally found the ends, clicked 'em together, and cinched it tight.... just as Kevin-my-just-smoked-a-joint-and-didn't-tell-me-idiot-friend pulled out to pass the pickup. With the left wheels touching the left shoulder and his foot on the floor, the Nova kicked its tail to the left, we crossed in front of the pickup toward the right (sideways) and hit the right ditch head on, rolling twice. I remember smacking Kevin's head really hard with my elbow in the violence of the crash (I shoulda done it twice) and I remember being amazed at the dent my head put in the dash (Oh, that's why I am the way I am!) and I remember calmly disconnecting my seatbelt after first trying to disconnect it frantically while screaming like a schoolgirl. OK, I didn't scream. I also remember feeling around the inside of the car for my glasses, climbing out of the ditch to face a very irritated farmer who was disappointed in the lack of obvious injury, and I remember walking back to the pizza parlor instead of waiting for the "Charles Ernst types" to arrive in their squad cars so that Kevin wouldn't have to explain to his parents that his second rollover wreck in a month involved another potentially injured friend. As I walked back, I marveled at the fact that I was not only alive, I was uninjured.
And I remembered a wreck from about ten years before. A wreck that took the life of my older brother. He was also a rebel. He also lived like he had "Fire Insurance." A childhood in church and a remembered prayer and baptism. His seatbelt hadn't been used. (Many cars built in the forties would only have belts if retrofitted for them) He flew over a ditch and his car hit a tree. My brother broke through the windshield on impact and died against a tree.
How much better to die at the foot of a tree... that has been shaped into a cross? How much better to recognize that my plan is doomed to failure and destruction? I saw the potential brevity of my life as I walked back to enjoy a medium canadian bacon with extra cheese.
So now what? What is my purpose? What does God want me to do? How can I know?
A couple of encouragements from the above verse: God made me. He knows me. He designed me. He knows what I am capable of. He has a job for me to do. He planned for me to be the one to do that job. In advance!
He did the same for you if you are In Christ. It is not enough for us to go to church. It is not enough for us to read our bibles. It is not enough for us to attend a small group. He has designed you to do good work. Your good work may be pouring your life into a love relationship with your wife to create a stable home. It may be sacrificing your "personal time" to build a lifetime of strength and memories into your kids. And it will involve the investment of all of your personal resources into His kingdom... doing the work he prepared in advance for you to do. Don't rely on your policy. Live!