I did a Google search for “seeking God’s will for my life,” and it turned up 315,000 listings. Three hundred thousand voices offering up a way, a plan, an idea on how you can find God’s purpose in your life. How many books have been written, songs sung, and Bible studies led in an attempt to answer this question?
Is it possible that all these voices have missed the simple truth? Has the answer been right in front of us the whole time? “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27, NIV).
The simple call to practice pure and undefiled religion is to serve “the least of these,” and in doing so, we are dead-center in God’s call for our lives.
Isn’t it just like God to provide selflessness as the path toward fulfillment? No 10-step plan, no skills inventory, no talent assessment. At its most basic, we can practice true religion and live out our calling as Christ followers when we pour ourselves into others.
Why is the care of the vulnerable seen as “pure religion”? Because we are never more like Jesus than when we express His sacrificial love and care for “the least of these.” It is simply the continuation of a cycle that God has started in us.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. — James 1:27, NIV
Prayer: Father, we desire to follow You, to serve You. Forgive us when our self-centeredness blocks our view of the beautiful calling You have placed in our lives. Help us to serve others and in doing so, serve You.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kurt Birky is the branding director at the Global Ministry Center in Colorado Springs.
Read all the One in Spirit devotionals.