Vocation and Purpose

I am subbing in Bible classes today and plan to read from Isaiah 61 and Luke 4 in each class. In Isaiah 61, God tells Isaiah what his purpose is. Luke tells of Jesus in a synagogue. Jesus takes the scroll and finds the Isaiah passage and reads it. Then Jesus says that those verses are fulfilled in him. In other words, Jesus claimed for himself the purpose God gave to Isaiah.

In John's gospel, Jesus says that we are sent just like he was sent. God gave Isaiah a purpose statement; Jesus claimed it for his own; Jesus passes it along to Christians.

Everybody has dreams and goals for what they want to do in life. Vocation and purpose aren't the same things.

Vocation varies from person to person. Doctor, lawyer, mechanic, baseball player, teacher, business owner, short order cook, etc. People do a lot of different things for vocation.

Vocation is how we spend our time making money to spend on needs and wants. Hopefully, vocation also provides vacation! Through vocation we satisfy inner longings and meet needs of others.

Purpose is God-given and is constant throughout a person's life and from person to person. We all have the same purpose although we may have different vocations.

What is your purpose? That question is intriguing, mesmerizing, even haunting. We ask our children, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" When we're grown we ask ourselves, "Why am I doing this?"

Purpose! Let's look to the creator of the universe to find our purpose.

Here is what Jesus read that day in the synagogue:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me

because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to release the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

(Luke 4:18-19)

In another gospel passage, Jesus said that he came to seek and save the lost. Another time he said that he didn't come to be served but to serve. And he said he was sending his followers just as he had been sent.

The Great Commission tells us to make disciples. The Great Commandment tells us to love God and love others.

Can you see a common theme? That is your purpose. Mine, too.

Our vocations may differ. They have to, actually. We can't all be bakers or line workers. We need as many vocations as is necessary for society to thrive.

The problem occurs when we try to equate vocation with purpose. Vocation and purpose are linked but not the same.

Choose any vocation you like, then use it as a platform to live out your God-given purpose. I've experienced personally how to use vocation as a platform for purpose. Whether I've been a training manager for a call center, pastor of a church, or substitute teacher in a school, I have been able to accomplish my purpose. Choose a vocation that will help you reach people with the gospel.