The Basis of Identity, Significance, and Purpose

The Basis of Identity, Significance, and Purpose.
Proverbs 3:5-6
“In all you conduct of life, know God, and he will make your ways morally right” (personal translation).

People today are looking for an identity, purpose, and significance. They are looking for happiness and contentment. For many, identity comes through their sexual identity. Others look for identity and purpose in their career or accomplishments. For some, significance and meaning in life come through social change and influence. For others, the search for meaning is synonymous with happiness, so they embrace pleasure as the basis for discovering joy in life. However, with all the discussion today about identity, there remains an unsatisfied and unending quest for what seems to be unattainable.  
The Wisdom books of the Bible (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job) seek to answer the foundational questions of humanity. Wisdom is more than the ability to do what is right with the correct methods. It strives to provide the answer to the fundamental meaning of life and what gives us purpose and significance. The writer of Ecclesiastes examines all the pursuits of man (sexual identity and pleasure, riches and achievements, and every pursuit that humanity seems to embrace in the endless quest for meaning). After his examination, he concludes that each of these is vanity (literally a vaporless cloud that has no substance). If all the pursuits of humanity today ultimately lead to emptiness, where do we find identity, significance, and purpose in life?
For the Sage, the answer lies not in one’s sexual identity, personal accomplishments, financial prosperity, or status in the sight of men. The answer lies in the knowledge of God and obedience to his commands. Meaning in life comes through “the fear of God and keeping his commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). The starting point of wisdom and purpose in life is “the fear of the Lord” (Proverbs 1:7).  
Wisdom does not come from internal navel-gazing or the pursuit of our personal desires and happiness. Instead, it comes from the quest to know God and align ourselves with his character and will. In Proverb 3:6, the writer provides the answer to meaning in life when he states, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”  The verse may be translated, “In all your actions and behaviors, know God, and he will make your course of life morally upright.”  In other words, the pursuit of the knowledge of God is the basis upon which life finds its purpose and meaning, as well as its moral compass. Knowing God is the key to life.
We have become lost in the sea of identity confusion and aimless futility when we forsake the pursuit of the knowing God and place ourselves at the center. We no longer seek to know who God is; rather, we only want to know how God can make us happy. As a result, we have become man-centered rather than God-centered in our orientation of life. Instead of pursuing the question, “Who is God?” we have become obsessed with the question, “Who am I?”  However, we were created to reflect his image, so our identity comes from him. We discover fulfillment and purpose when we abandon ourselves and seek him. For this reason, for the next 66 weeks, we will explore each book of the Bible and ask, “what does this book teach us about God?” so that we might change our perspective from ourselves to the God who created us.  
“The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father.” –Charles Spurgeon.
“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3.