Last night on Facebook, I saw a friend’s status update and it just…made me want to cry, let me share it with you….
“So-and-So cant decide if she wants to work all year to get in a fashion show next summer or if she wants to go to Jacksonville for a two month mission trip…:/”

But it got me thinking. Obviously this situation is a ridiculous one and the answer is obvious to any Christian. Help people and share the gospel with them, or be self-centered…A durr. But why is it obvious? And what happens if it is not so obvious? As a high school student about to apply for colleges, there are lots of choices and decisions I have to make now that will impact the rest of my life. I have to choose a college, major, financial aid, in the next 5-10 years I’ll be looking for a wife, and on and on. How can I know how to make these decisions according to the Will of God? What does He want in my decisions? Do I wait for a still small voice in the back of my mind to tell me to go to Covenant College? Or is it in 3 Corinthians, Thou Shalt Go to Covenant College?
I was listening to a Paul Washer sermon on marriage, and he addressed this quite wonderfully. What is your ultimate purpose in your life? What is God’s ultimate purpose in your life?
As a Christian, your ultimate purpose in life is found in 1 Corinthians 10:31- “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” Everything you do, even the most menial tasks, do for the glory of God. To glorify Him. To make Him look good and great! When was the last time you drank a glass of water to the glory of God?
Things are great! Don’t get me wrong. Cars, Computers, etc. Are good to use, if you use them rightly. If you use them for the glory of God. Use Cars to show that cars are not your treasure, Christ is. Use computers to show that computers are not your treasure, Christ is. And so on. Everything you do should be based on one question, Will this glorify Him? Will this advance His Kingdom? Make Him look great?

Now, what’s God’s ultimate purpose in your life? This can be found in Romans 8:28-29- And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren. In other words, everything that happens in the life of the true Christian is God working things to the good of that person. That good is obviously not temporal good (if so Paul the Apostle wouldn’t have been beaten, starved, imprisoned, shipwrecked, stoned, and ultimately killed), but rather is explained in verse 29 where we see that God has predestined the elect to be conformed to the image of His Son so that Christ would be glorified. That is, every event in the life of a believer is ordained, predestined, and caused by God for one purpose, to make the Christian more like Christ. More like Christ.
So the truth is, the decisions you make shouldn’t be based on what you want, or what will be easy, or what will make you happy. Your decisions should be based on one thing, What will glorify God and make me more like Christ? Lots of decisions become easy when put to that test.
Paul Washer said, “Lots of times young boys will come into my office with that goofy smile and say, ‘I’m in love with so-and-so. I want to Marry her.’ And I’ll ask them why and they’ll say, ‘Because she’s beautiful! We can talk. We have a great time together and we get a long. She’s perfect for me!’ Then I’ll say, ‘Let me get this right, you want to marry this girl because she meets all your selfish silly conditions?’ ‘That’s not what I’m saying!’ ‘That’s exactly what you’re saying.” Marriage is not based upon what a person looks like, how compatable you are, how well you get along, or anything like that. What happens when that wife you married because she was beautiful is no longer beautiful. Or what happens when that wife you used to be able to laugh and talk to, wont laugh or talk to you anymore? What happens when (and it will happen) someone more beautiful who you can talk to enters your life? A secretary or bank teller? Marriage is based upon one thing: God has called a man to be with a woman to glorify Him and to make them into the image of Christ. If your wife’s beautiful and perfect, Hallelujah. Praise God. If she’s anything but, it doesn’t matter because that’s not what your marriage is based on. Because let’s be honest, God isn’t going to give you a wife who’s perfect. Why? Well, what’s God’s puprose for everything in your life? To conform you to the image of Christ. What are the three characteristics that best describe Christ do you think? My three would have to be mercy, unconditional love, and grace. I think those three are about what anyone would say. So what will your spouse be like? She will be someone who teaches you how to be merciful, how to love someone even though they don’t live up to your conditions, and how to be gracious. She will fail in ways you would wish she would not, she will let you down time after time after time after time. Because God’s going to do what it takes to make you into the image of Christ.

Same thing with anything really. The college you chose, the church, the home, the car, whatever choice you have in your life. Simply ask yourself, What will glorify God and make me into the image of Christ?