During my walk the other morning, I heard the voice of a songbird somewhere in the midst of the bare trees hovering above me. I began to notice how every branch was a part of something bigger than itself—the trunk. The branches reminded me a lot of blood vessels. Blood vessels are channels that transport blood from the center of the body, i.e. the heart, just as tree branches are channels that transport nutrients from the center of the tree—the trunk. God’s people are like His blood vessels, we transport the Word throughout the body of Christ.

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about purpose, specifically my purpose. I’ve been able to boil it all down to one thing, one very simple yet beautiful thing. I am God’s vessel. How empowering it is to come to this realization.

The wonderful thing about your divine purpose is it’s simplicity. Your purpose isn’t to gain likes, followers, views, nor approval. It’s my belief, your purpose isn’t even to increase the body of Christ. Being able to contribute to the growing number of believers is a good thing, but it’s not your purpose. Though your divine assignment could very well be tied to apologetics, your purpose is to simply transport the Word, ultimately bringing glory to God.

Tree branches serve a purpose to transport nutrients from the trunk to the leaves and canopy of tree. But there’s another side to this coin. The branches not only serve the outer parts of the tree; they also serve the center of the tree as well. How do they do that? As the outer parts of the tree encounter wind, it’s swaying strengthens the core of the tree, it’s trunk.

Likewise, not only do blood vessels transport blood from the heart; they make what’s known as a “loop” and transport it back to the heart. We as believers have a purpose to transport the Word outwardly which then brings glory back to God. To bring glory to our Creator is the objective of our divine purpose.

It’s the order of nature to bring glory to God— sunsets, mountaintops, stars, rainbows, and rain itself all pay homage to a Creator. Music, mathematics, the concept of morality all point to a Creator and glorify His name. Even the songbird brings glory to God. If no one is around to hear the bird sing, does it continue to sing? Absolutely. The songbird’s purpose isn’t affected by the acceptance or even the perception of others; it simply sings. Likewise, the sun would continue to shine whether or not humanity remained on the earth. Nature points to God not to convince any of us that He exists; it points to God because its purpose is to glorify His name.

Everyone and everything exists to glorify God.

So how do we glorify God?

One of the main ways we glorify God is by showing gratitude for our existence.

How do we show gratitude for our existence?

We show gratitude for our existence by doing what we were created to do, operating in our gifts. Our mission isn’t one of numbers. It’s about being who God created us to be. It is not our purpose as believers to change people; it is our purpose to exist in truth. We must live in and transport truth. This is God’s will; this is our purpose.

As I continued my walk, I began to have a heart to heart with God. I told Him how silly I feel at times posting online. Why? Because I don’t have very many followers, and I don’t get very many likes. It’s not that it was ever about that, but I told God, if I’m not reaching anyone, what’s the point? That’s when He reminded me of the songbird—the songbird that continues to sing even when it’s alone. Why? Not to capture an audience but simply because it was created to. We must do what we were created to do regardless of who’s watching, regardless of who’s following.

I hope this message encouraged you to stop for a moment and consider your purpose. How did God build you to transport truth? With words in a book? A paintbrush? A microphone? Lastly, I pray that the next time you forget why you’re here, you’ll remember the simplicity of your purpose; I pray you too will remember the songbird.