“What do you want to be when you grow up?” That is the question that is often asked of us from the time we are old enough to show interest in any specific area of life. It is such a simple question, yet people are amazed and delighted to watch the eyes of children as they begin to dream and their faces frown as they ponder the answer to the question. The answers vary, as some may say they want to be a doctor, some may desire to be a lawyer, some may want to be a police officer, others may dream of being a professional athlete, and the list goes on and on.
As we become older and enter junior high school, the question is still asked, and the older we become, the more we do what we feel we must at the moment while still imagining a day when we can become what we have always wanted to become. For some, the dream seems unattainable, while others achieve the dream only to find that it is not everything they imagined when they initially said, “I want to do or become a ______________.” There are still others who realize the dream and absolutely love it.
You may have read the scenario above and thought, “Well, that is just the way life is.” However, I believe that all people can do something in life that they absolutely love, and it be legal and moral. “How?” you may ask. It is very simple. Instead of asking children what they want to do in life, teach them to ask God why He created them.
Then Manoah entreated the Lord and said, O Lord, let the Man of God whom You sent come again to us and teach us what we shall do with the child that shall be born. And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. And the woman ran in haste and told her husband and said to him, Behold, the Man who came to me the other day has appeared to me. And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the Man and said to him, Are you the Man who spoke to this woman? And he said, I am. And Manoah said, Now when your words come true, how shall we manage the child, and what is he to do?
Judges 13:8–12
What I have just explained above is a simple yet life-altering shift that will allow young girls and boys to grow into women and men who live Matthew 6:33. Imagine the impact to your family if more people in it were seeking God. Imagine the difference in your community. Imagine what the world would be like if more people were concerned with pleasing God and developing into the women or men He intended them to be when they were created by Him.
It is safe to say that there would be a major difference in our nation and even the world. It would certainly be a change for the better.
Your turn:
Share how you think your life, family, community and even nation would be different if more people asked God to teach them why He created them and then pursued that purpose. What did you want to be when you grew up? Why? Is that what you are doing now? If you care to share, why or why are you not working in that field?
