Thought for the Week

By Revd. Richard Walker – Vicar of St. John’s Church, Yeadon

A WOODWORK teacher asked one of his pupils “What are you making, Tommy?” And the little boy replied, “A portable”. “A portable what?” asked his teacher. “Er…I don’t know yet”, said the boy, “I’ve only made the handle.”

Many people today are living like that – making their purpose up as they go on. We don’t really know why we are here or how we should live. We lack a clear set of values or beliefs to guide us. As a result, we fumble along as best we can, trying to create our own sense of purpose, perhaps through raising a family or pursuing a career or acquiring possessions or discovering a hobby. Or else we just fill up our lives with busy-ness and pleasure and try not to think too much!

But from time to time, something will happen in our lives that will cause us to ask: “What’s it all about? Why am I here? How am I supposed to live?” And when this happens, it would be wise to find a different path to life.

If I handed you a bizarre invention, you could try and work out its purpose for yourself, but you may never come up with the right answer. To find out its purpose you must either talk to the inventor or read the owner’s manual. And perhaps life is like that. Life is too rich, too deep, too complex to work out for ourselves. We need to talk to life’s inventor, God, and read the owner’s manual, the Bible.

Rick Warren, author of the best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life says, “You were made by God and you were made for God. And until you understand that, life isn’t going to make sense.”

If you lack a sense of purpose to your life, may I invite you to begin a journey that starts not with yourself, but with God. And as we find our place in God, so we come to understand our place in the world.