Designed with a Purpose

During the past month, a certain reality of the Christian identity has come up over and over again in my life. It was first discussed in our 2nd and 3rd grade religious education class and then I shared that part of the lesson with a friend. Next, one of our volunteers taught about it with joy and conviction during a presentation to the youth. Then it came up again in a new light a week later, talking about the kingdom of God during our Sunday and Wednesday middle school sessions. And then, as if all that wasn’t enough to get my attention, a different friend shared with me some of the things God had been working in her life and, come to find out, she was reflecting over the same aspect, the same truth I had been coming back to, over and over again for weeks.
So I figured, if God keeps putting this in front of me, I should probably blog about it.
I think the whole idea can be best understood with the example of a toddler’s toy, a shape sorter to be exact. (I had to look up the ‘official’ name, because I didn’t even know what this toy was called.)
This is a shape sorter:
 
At the risk of being overly elementary, the point of a shape sorter is to put the right shape in the right slot. Obviously, the diamond isn’t going to fit into the star hole. It only fits in the diamond hole. That’s where it was made to go. That’s the only place it’s going to fit. Now, this is obvious to many, but to the toddlers sometimes it can be quite a hang up. And honestly, in life, sometimes we have a hard time placing things too, even placing ourselves. So often, we lose sight of our “shape”, our design, our purpose, and that too is quite a hang up.
What am I talking about? Picture it this way: The purpose of our existence is to know, love and serve God with everything we are. We’re called to be His sons and daughters. We’re all called to be His children. We all have this in common and we were all made with this design, so it’s sort of like we’re all heart shaped. And, as little heart shaped pieces, we are only going to fit into the heart slot. You and I are called to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind… and love your neighbor as yourself”, which is how Jesus nicely summed it up. (Matthew 22:37,39)  
When we try and do things contrary to what we’re designed for, like love material things more than God, or use others to get what we want, or fail to love people as we should, we’re trying to go into a slot we were never intended to fit into. We were made to love. When we sin, we reject that call to love. We end up trying to make something work the way it was never supposed to and trying to mold ourselves into something we were never intended to be, people of sin. And, sadly, when we do this, all we end up with is brokenness.
However, we are blessed with a God who will never abandon us, even when we turn our backs on Him and then end up lost. That’s one of the main things Jesus wants us to understand from His words here on earth. He wants us to know that we have a God of unfailing, merciful love. Christ tells us that He is the good shepherd, who knows us and seeks us when we are lost, and who lays down His life for His sheep. (John 10:7-18) He tells us the story of the Prodigal Son, whose father runs out to greet with a warm embrace when he finally returns home. (Luke 15:11-32) This is just a small scale example of the way our Heavenly Father rejoices when we turn back to Him with repentance and love. Jesus embraced his cross and died for us, so that we would never doubt how much we mean to Him. Through His death and resurrection He makes a way for us to truly live as sons and daughters of God once more.  
Did you know that at your baptism, you are given a call? This moment of grace is one of cleansing, rebirth and acceptance into God’s family and it comes with a mission. Each of us is baptized priest, prophet and king. (Or, as I tell my middle school girls, priest, prophet and princess) While not all Christians are able or called to be ordained priests, all those who are baptized are called to be part of Christ’s universal priesthood. We are called to be an example of Jesus, to remind others of Him and to bring His love into the lives of others through all we do. We are called to tell people the good news of Christ and live a life set apart and close to God as a prophet. We are the children of our Heavenly King. Even though we are fallen, Christ has offered us forgiveness and grace, which gives us the chance to spend eternity with God, a life we were always intended for. This was meant to be our destiny. This call of our baptisms is what God had in mind when He shaped us as “hearts”.      
Now, is this call easy? No. But God does his best to make it a little less difficult for us. He invites us to draw near to Him and to receive His graces. He dwells within us through His Spirit and fills us with His love and goodness, both to fuel our lives and to share with others. Through His presence, He is constantly renewing us and healing us, mending all the messiness and brokenness that we so often get ourselves into. And the craziest part is that it’s all a free gift because He loves us so much.
No, living a holy life is not easy, but it’s what we were made for. We will never be happy or satisfied with anything else. Never. We are hearts made to go into the heart slot. We’re children of God, made to know, love and serve Him forever. That’s where we fit. That’s where our joy will be found. It’s a blessing and an adventure and a call worth rising to. It’s a beautiful life as a child of the King.  
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