Discovering A Life with Purpose
James R. Davis
Christian living is more than emptying one's life
of evil . . . it also involves filling one's life with good. Jesus spoke
a parable where an unclean spirit left a man and upon its return finding
the house empty, swept and neatly in order it reentered the house taking
with it seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and the last state
of that man was worst than the first. (Matthew 12:43-45.) This parable
demonstrates that it is not enough to empty one's life of evil, but one
must also fill each his/her life with good. The temple of the demon must
become the temple of God.
Endeavoring to life void of evil without replacing
the evil with good robs life of meaning and purpose. A man revealed that
he found it difficult to stop visiting a place where he played pool, had
a few social drinks, told a lot of dirty jokes, and heard a lot of bad
language. In his effort to break the routine he would simply go home and
sit around bored with nothing to do. His boredom left his life feeling
void of any real meaning or purpose. After a few weeks he would find himself
back in the same old rut doing the same old thing.
The Christian life must not only be thought of
in terms of what one should not do, but also in terms of what one should
be doing. Godly living must be viewed from a positive perspective thinking
in terms of filling one's life with wholesome thoughts, right attitudes
and good deeds. A close examination of the New Testament reveals that it
implicitly or explicitly commends an act of righteousness to replace every
ungodly act that it condemns.
Jesus taught that bad attitudes must be replaced
with good ones (Matthew 5:1-12); love must root out hate (Matthew 5:43-48);
doing alms to God in secret replaces doing alms to be seen of men (Matthew
6:1-5); one must strive to lay up treasure in heaven rather than laying
up riches upon the earth (Matthew 6:19-21); concern for the spiritual must
take precedence over the concern for the physical (Matthew 6:25-34); digging
the beam out of your eye must replace hunting the mote in our brother's
eye (Matthew 7:1-5); the narrow way is to replace the broad way (Matthew
7:13-14); building a life upon a solid foundation is to replace the life
built upon shifting sand (Matthew 7:24-27), etc.
Likewise Paul taught that telling the truth must
supplant lying (Ephesians 4:25); an honest days work would cause one to
have no need of stealing (Ephesians 4:28); filthy conversation is to be
changed into a speech that will edify and minister grace unto the hearers
(Ephesians 4:29); the works of the flesh must be displaced by the fruits
of the spirit (Galatians 5:19-24); one must seek to be filled with the
Spirit and not with wine (Ephesians 5:18), etc.
The easiest way to replace air in a bottle with
water is simply to fill the bottle with water, thus driving out the air.
Likewise, the easiest way to replace evil in one's life is, with the help
of God, simply fill one's life with good, thus crowding out the evil. The
idle life is doomed to become the devil's tool.
An untiring effort to have wholesome thoughts,
to develop right attitudes, and to do good will drive out the unclean spirit
and we will "Discover A Life with Purpose."
