Been into a book shop recently? There’s often a whole section devoted to that thing called ‘self-help.’ Here you’ll find hundreds of books promising to help us help ourselves. There are books on dealing with anxiety, low self-esteem, relationship issues, finding our purpose in life, becoming effective leaders or being able to make more money; the list is endless. We’re told to look inside ourselves to find the answers to all our problems. But we can only find answers, and our purpose in life, if we look upwards rather than inwards. God is the one who can tell us what we’re here for. ‘It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone’ (Ephesians 1:11-12 MSG). He created us with a purpose and discovering that purpose is a journey we all have to go on. ‘For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them’ (Ephesians 2:10). We won’t feel really contented in life until we are doing what God has called us to do. Even Solomon, with all his riches, success and fame, still claimed that ‘everything is meaningless’ (Ecclesiastes 1:2). To avoid a meaningless life, we need to be on that journey of discovering, and then fulfilling, God’s purpose that He’s chosen especially for us.

What now?
Today’s the first day of advent, so...every time you open your advent calendar, ask God to let you discover something new each day about His plan and purpose for you.