I’m 31 years old and I would say that one of the most difficult questions to answer as I mature deals with what I ultimately want to accomplish in life. It’s easy to say that I want to be successful and make a difference but what does that really look like? How would you answer that question? What does success look like for you? I’m working through Proverbs and Proverbs 10:21 says…

The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of sense.

“The lips of the righteous nourish many…” This is telling us something about what it means to live on purpose. Those who find a true sense of direction in life realize that we are not meant to live only for ourselves. This proverb is telling us that the righteous live to be a blessing to others. Their words and their lives “nourish many.” The righteous are not out there to just consume resources and hoard wealth. They find their sense of fulfillment in emptying themselves and in so doing they find greater fulfillment than those who always try to seek selfish gain.

“…fools die for lack of sense.” Maybe their lack of sense is demonstrated in their vain pursuit of wealth and purpose outside of the purposes of God. The people that Jesus always had the toughest time with were the Pharisees. They used their self-righteousness and surface level piety to get their own need for self-aggrandizement met. They lived for themselves even though it looked like they lived for God.

So what are you living for? What is the wake that you want to leave behind? Are you living merely to please yourself or have you oriented your life around the purposes of God? The beautiful thing about surrendering your life to God is that he enables you to find fulfillment as you empty yourself repeatedly for the fulfillment of others.