Purpose

Being a teacher, I think about objectives a lot. In lesson plans there's a "teacher jargon": TSWBAT. This stands for "the student will be able to..." and following it, the objective and goal of the lesson should be stated.

As students of the Bible, what should we be able to do?

God outlines his entire objective for our lives through his Word; and, on occasion, we discover something more specifically applicable to our lives at a particular point, the objective of the lesson (instead of the unit or even course). I was touched today through an email from a friend which had the following verse in it. If there was ever something so encouraging yet direct and giving purpose to our lives, I don't know what that was. Being bogged down by the stress of my first few weeks of teaching, I had forgotten to focus on that which is above and what God has in store for me and wants me to do! What a meaningful and great wake-up!

"I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I make you to be a covenant for the people,
A light for the nations,
To open the eyes that are blind,
To free captives from prison,
And to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness."
-Isaiah 42:6-7