People need purpose. We need meaning.  In order to give shape and direction to our lives, we need to have an aim, a goal, a direction.  However, the purposes that we often embrace are not all the same.  Some purposes might be self-giving, while other are self-absorbing.  They may be creative or destructive, nourishing or poisonous, full of light or full of darkness.  Unfortunately, many of us choose destructive paths.  We embrace a life that is fueled by anger, or greed, or jealousy, or revenge.  We cling to dark purposes.  In the movie, The Princess Bride , there is a character named Inigo Montoya.  When we meet him in the movie, we find him in a lifelong quest to take revenge on a “six fingered man” for murdering his father.  Though Inigo is one of the most comical characters in the story, he is also one of the most tragic.  When he finally gets his revenge at the end of the story, Inigo finds that his life is empty.  He says, “I have been in the revenge business so long, now that it’s over, I do not know what to do with the rest of my life.”  This is how it is for all those who shape their lives around dark purposes.  Even when we are successful, we will find that the victory will be empty.  Our hearts will be shriveled and toxic.  Our lives will be lonely and dark.  In the end, we will wind up like Gollum in the Hobbit, whom Tolkien refers to as “a small, slimy creature.”

I don’t want to wind up like Gollum.  I don’t want to be consumed by dark purposes that rot my heart and eat up my life.  “Spirit of Christ, rescue me from my ‘dark purposes.’  Form me in the image of Christ.  Restore the joy of your Kingly rule over my life.  Along with all those who trust in You, restore my trust in the gospel that I might be creative, nourishing, and filled with the light of Christ fueled love.”