This past Sunday, the New Orleans Saints (football team) had a great “comeback” victory against the Houston Texans. After initially trailing by a score of 10 to 0, the Saints roared back to take the lead at the beginning of the second half. After trading scores back and forth, the Saints found themselves losing by the score of 33 to 32 with just a few minutes left in the game. But once again the Saints, led by their fearless quarterback Drew Brees, marched down the field and scored a winning touchdown (the final score for those who are not football fanatics was 40 to 33 in favor of the Saints). It was a thrilling game and a great comeback victory for the Saints.

The Bible is filled with all types of “comeback” stories, of men and women who rebounded from significant losses or failures in life to experience a life of victory and be mightily utilized by the Lord in the lives of others. Abraham’s story is about someone making a great “comeback” from mistakes and failures to become the father of the Jewish nation and the father of all who would live by faith. Joseph’s story is that he made a “comeback” from a life as a slave and a prisoner to become the Prime Minister of the greatest nation of his day. Moses’ story is that after foolishly taking the life of another person and spending 40 years hiding out in the wilderness, he made a “comeback” to become the great leader of the Israelite nation. The Scriptures tell us of many others who experienced “comeback victories” in their lives. And of course, the greatest “comeback” of all was the resurrection of Jesus from the grave.

I mention these “comeback victories” because our congregation has just begun the 40 DAYS OF PURPOSE which is a great opportunity for God’s people to begin to experience “comeback victory” in their lives. As our people began reading The Purpose Driven Life, the best-selling book by Rick Warren, I would like to share with you a few excerpts that I’ve written down from the first two days of reading from that book:

• "If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by His purpose and for His purpose." (Chapter 1)
• "God is not just the starting point of your life; He is the source of it. To discover your purpose in life you must turn to God's Word; not the world's wisdom. You must build your life on eternal truths, not pop psychology, success-motivation or inspirational stories." (Chapter 1)
  
• "You are not an accident. Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God. . . . Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. . . . It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are breathing at this moment. You are alive because God wanted to create you!" (Chapter 2)
  
• "While there are illegitimate parents, there are no illegitimate children. Many children are unplanned by their parents, but they are not unplanned by God. God's purpose took into account human error, and even sin. God never does anything accidentally, and He never makes mistakes. He has a reason for everything (and everyone) He creates." (Chapter 2)
  
• "There is a God who made you for a reason, and your life has profound meaning! We discover that meaning and purpose only when we make God the reference point of our lives. Romans 12:3 reads, 'The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what He does for us.'" (Chapter 2)

What those statements communicate to us is that no matter who we are, what we’ve done or how we’ve failed, we can all experience “comeback victory” in our lives. If you’ve never read The Purpose Driven Life I suggest that you do. I believe that you will be able to discover and live out God’s great purposes for your life, which will lead you to a life of victory, fulfillment, strengthened relationships and great influence for the kingdom of God.