God´s great purpose with our lives

What is God’s plan for my life? What has He called me to do and what can I do to be more in
alignment with His calling for me in my daily life? Could it be that at the end of my life I
suddenly realise that my daily choices have been missing the mark because God had a
different purpose for me all along? Have you ever asked yourself these questions?

God is very clear in His Word about what His purpose is with us. In Romans 8:29 Paul writes,
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son”.
This makes it clear that God wants to transform us into the image of His Son. What a
tremendous and wonderful goal!

In practice, this means that we are to become more and more like Jesus Christ in our
thinking and behaviour, day by day. The final goal is reached when we enter the glory of
heaven; for then we will finally be like Him and see Him as He is (see 1 John 3:2)!

Here on earth, as disciples of the Lord, we’re in the school of God. We’re learning from our
Master and be- ing formed by Him daily. Imagine visiting a carpenter in his workshop. There
you see rough wooden planks, chairs without seats, and tables with two legs missing. You
think to yourself that these pieces of furniture are not particularly beautiful, or even are total
failures.

As if the carpenter could read your thoughts, he says to you, “The items aren’t finished yet.
I’m still working on them. Come with me and I’ll show you the design they’re made from.”
Then he shows you cut, polished, and perfectly shaped furniture without any f law. He says,
“When the other items are finished, they’ll look like these.”

It’s similar with our transformation process into the image of Jesus Christ. Now there is still
much that is crooked and imperfect in us. But God is in the process of making us more and
more like His Son. He is the perfect Example that we will one day resemble when our
learning process and God’s work on us are complete.

J.P.S.