Soccer was once my dream! More than
Having or owning a ball, I wanted to play.
I dreamed of playing when I had no ball
I practiced to play when I had no ball
Now the ball is in my hands, here I am
Seated at home instead of out in the field
Wondering instead of playing.
The ball is mine at last!
This ball cost a lot!
And this ball is the best I want no dirt on it.
So what do you do with such a ball?
You play. Why do you play such a ball?
To win? How do you win? Playing by the rule.
How do you know you’ve won? When you score:
So it’s not about the ball, it’s not the field
It’s not about playing or those I play with;
All of these are to help me score: it’s really
About the goal – where is the goal-post?

I had a quiet fellowship with a beloved brother that kick-started a question as I walked out of his office – what is my goal in life? Are you clear on what your life goal is about? I cannot find my goal on my own because I did not make myself. If I were here by myself, for myself, then I can define my goal. But I know that life is not about me and mine: there is a greater Source that supplies and orders it. That then means that there is a greater goal for which life is. I have never been in doubt of my goal but that day’s discussion made the reflection clearer.

I cannot define my life’s goal without or outside of God who made me. To understand my purpose, I need to look into God’s master plan: what did God have in mind when He made me? He wanted me to be like Him. God made you and me to be like Him. It then means that life is not me alone, and it is not only about you and me, it is so much more. It also means that you and I cannot define, discover, live, enjoy, and fulfil our purpose outside God.

When God made us, He made us to be like Him. God created us as show-pieces of His glory and power and greatness to all creation. Through us, God intended to display the glory of His majesty, from one generation to the other.  We were not created to work, to suffer, to enjoy, or for all the activities we are drawn into. We were created for so much more. When corruption entered, we fell and rather than resemble the Father like whom we were made and from whom we fell, we became denatured and resembled the liar who corrupted us. Another father stole into the show, to defy God. He once was God’s until he rebelled and was thrown out. He cannot hurt God but He found a means to touch the untouchable One: he stepped in between God and us, to use us contrary to our Father’s goals, to use us for his thwarted purposes.

Today, some think life is for enjoyment, “Let’s have fun today for tomorrow we die.” Some think they were born to suffer. Some have concluded that they are here to change the world by whatever means they have decided. But what relief to know that the singular purpose of our existence, which remains unchanged from the beginning to the end of times, is that we should be like God. The world may be corrupt, constantly deteriorating, crumbling and falling apart but like God, we are the salt preserving, light shining, goodness that defies evil, love that conquers hate. We are to the world, what God is to us. That is the purpose.

Whether we are free or imprisoned, rich or poor, buying or selling, high up there or low down there: it’s all secondary. It’s not to boast about who we are or be ashamed of who we are not; not to flaunt what we have or mourn what we have not; we accept who we are, we enjoy what we have, undistracted, fully focused, committed to fulfilling that singular purpose: to be like God to everyone we meet, everywhere we go.

If we understood that this is our life’s goal, all the shows will cease, boasting will end, looking down on others will stop because we were all made for the same purpose and whatever we have or not, we will be judged by how much of God we reflected in our unique circumstances; how much of God we attained in our lifetime. So whoever you are today, whatever you may have, may you never forget: it’s all for that singular purpose: to be like God.

Glory!