This morning, as I had breakfast, I was watching a sermon from a friend of mine, in his church website.
He used a very interesting illustration to convey his message, which I retell in my words below.
My friend extracted deeper meanings from the story, but I will stick to the basics:
In the mid 1800’s, during the depression in Ireland, the government hired men to build roads in the countryside.
These starving men were very glad to have a job, to support their families, to feel they were contributing to something.
They would be singing as they worked to build these roads. They were happy.
That is… until they found out these roads were going nowhere. Some ended in ditches, some in the middle of nothing.
And, no, there was not a visionary master plan behind it, to prepare the area for the future. It was busy work, with a lot of political reasons behind it.
Suddenly, the men were not singing anymore. They were not happy anymore. They couldn’t work anymore. There was no purpose.
As I am preparing to teach this Sunday on the Core View “Humankind”, I was thinking how important it is for men to have a purpose in life.
That is how God intended. He didn’t put us here to do busy work. To waste our 70, 80, or 90 years going nowhere.
He does have a visionary master plan, and it includes us.
His design for us includes an active participation in His plan for this world, for our country, our city, our church, our neighborhood, our co-workers, our family, our life.
We are here to honor Him, to glorify Him, and to get as many people to do the same as we can.
Are we doing that?