17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people . . . 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all (Luke 6:17a, 18-19, ESV).
1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction (Matt 10:1).
14 And he appointed twelve. . . so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons
Mark 3:14-15 (ESV)
FIND YOUR PURPOSE
I think one yearning that all human beings possess is the desire to find our life’s purpose. All Christians believe that although we are “in this world but not of this world” (John 17:11, 14), God has left us here to accomplish His purpose and plan. Jesus is a prime example of someone who came into the world with a very distinct purpose: to show the world the Father and to live fully in the will of His Father.
As we see in the first passage of today’s Scripture reading—Luke 6—Jesus chooses His twelve apostles and finds Himself confronted by a great crowd (v. 17). There are numerous instances in the Gospels where Jesus is met by large crowds of people seeking to hear His teachings and to be healed of their infirmities (v. 18a). Jesus does not hesitate to drive out unclean spirits and heal all those who approach Him (vv. 18b–19).
In the final two passages for today—Matthew 10 and Mark 3—we see Jesus giving His twelve apostles the same gifts and authority that He displays: casting out spirits, healing disease, and preaching the Gospel. Jesus empowers His closest followers to live out the purpose for which He has chosen them. They are to be His “witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). While we may not be empowered to heal the sick or cast out demons, we are most certainly equipped—and emphatically called—to be witnesses for Christ to all we encounter (see the Great Commission in Matthew 28). That is the primary purpose for which God has called us.
Rick Warren, in his bestselling book The Purpose Driven Life, notes that there are two ways to attempt to answer the question of one’s purpose: “speculation” and “revelation.” Philosophers have spent countless centuries speculating (guessing) about the purpose of life, to no avail. Rick Warren writes, “The easiest way to discover the purpose of an invention is to ask the creator of it.” The same is true for discovering your life’s purpose: ask God. God, through the revelation contained in His Word, answers our most basic question: Why am I here? If you are struggling to answer that question, open God’s Word and discover Upside Down Living—the Ordinary for the Extraordinary!
Digging Deeper (er):
Rom 8:28; Rom 12:2; Eph 2:10.
Phil Meade is a father of 3, and grandfather of 6. He has a Masters Degree in Theological Studies from Liberty University, and lives in Acworth. He has led various small groups throughout his 25 years attending NS. He retired after 8 years as an Air Force pilot, and 33 years as a Delta pilot.
