So, I have been trying to read three books at once here recently - it certainly keeps me on my toes. I am reading a commentary on Philippians for my seminary course, a book called Heaven (amazingly about what it is entitled), by Randy Alcorn, and Live Life on Purpose by Claude Hickman, the founder of . Reading through Live Life on Purpose has been challenging already and I have only read through the first two chapters. I am worried I might be more convicted as I read through the rest of the book! Yikes! :-)

One of the ideas which was very challenging was the “compass” which God has given us for our lives. Hickman speaks of the compass being God’s ultimately fulfilled purpose, which we see in Revelation 7:9 - “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” God ultimately desires that this throng of worshipers will be with Him forever in heaven. This is our compass. I really enjoyed the distinction which he gave between a compass and a map. A map is what we often wish that we had for our lives - a very specific and detailed plan which lays out how we will get to the end goal. The compass, on the other hand, will help us to see if what we are doing lines up with the “North Star” that is God’s ultimate plan.

Another point that Hickman brought up in his writing was that we are often approvers of others. We do not want to rock the boat by telling someone that they are not living up to their God-given potential and are not living in light of the compass which we have been given. Instead, we allow these people to try and line God up with their decisions rather than lining their decisions up with God’s desire. Approvers are compared to Saul when he held the coats of the people who stoned Stephen. We are not the ones making the decision, but we stand passively by and let it happen.

A final point which really struck me also was his point that this generation’s worst fear is choosing the wrong path and missing their destiny. How true that can be. There are so many roads open to us that we think that taking one will ruin the rest of our life. Instead of doing something, we end up doing nothing, which is clearly not going to bring God glory! A quote which I think is challenging along with this idea is this, “Don’t be afraid of the unknown on the journey; be afraid of missing the life God has appointed you to live.” So many times I want to have everything mapped out so that I know exactly what I need to do. This is certainly not how I should be living.

One final quote (this one from Oswald Chambers - but in this book):

God does not have to come and tell me what I must do for Him, He brings me into a relationship with Himself where I hear His call and understand what He wants me to do, and I do it out of sheer love for Him … When people say they have had a call to foreign service, or to any particular sphere of work, they mean that their relationship to God has enabled them to realize what they can do for God.