Do either one of us decide what we do with our lives? Is how we live determined by personal decision? Most of us would answer, “Yes, I decide what I do, where I go, and how I act. We do make decisions for ourselves. We do have control over our lives.

But there is more to life than believing that “life is up to me.”

There is a word which enables us to understand that we are not “in charge.” The word is “appointed.” The word appointed means selected. We have been chosen for specific life tasks. We might think of it this way, we were picked for specific things. Our agendas are not all there is to life.

We have a life assignment.

Let me explain by using examples in nature.

We begin with the Dragon fly. We move immediately to mosquitoes. Do you like mosquito bites? Neither do I. You and I both like dragonflies. The “appointment” of the dragonfly is eating mosquitoes. While they eat other insects, a dragonfly diet includes mosquitoes. The dragonfly nymph develops under water. Before reaching adult stage, a dragon fly nymph consumes uncountable mosquito wigglers. (Mosquito larva living in water with the nymph.) A dragonfly has been assigned the task of insect control. Adult dragonflies eat 30 to 100 mosquitoes each day. Save the Dragonfly.

Birds have appointments as well. We won’t find a dragonfly eating seeds in a wooded area. This is the task of the less than pint size Chipping Sparrow. In cold months, they are seed eaters. They switch to insects during spring and early summer. This is when they feed their young a protein rich insect diet. The “appointment” of the Chipping Sparrow is in places where there are trees…specifically evergreens. Chipping Sparrows control insects in wooded areas. Chipping Sparrows make good bird neighbors. They fulfill their appointments.

But you will not find the House Wren fighting the Chipping Sparrow for nesting areas. House Wrens nest in cavities. Wood pecker holes, other natural cavities and human constructed nest boxes are first choice. House Wrens eat insects like the Chipping Sparrow, but they forage in low tree branches on different places than the Sparrow. Dragonflies forage in the air…all three have “appointed” places. Biologists call it habitat.

The natural world is balanced…animals, birds, insects, even plants have “appointed” places to live, “appointed” behaviors to use in the place where they fit. What do biologists call this? It is a niche. Every living thing on earth has an appointed place. When living things keep their appointments biologists call it a food web…and life on earth works. Keeping “appointments” provides astonishing balance and order.

Human beings have been given an appointment. God gives it. Just as He has appointed behavior and location for all life on earth, God has appointed human beings. We have been selected by God to fulfill His purposes. As Dragonflies have compound eyes to see their prey in an astonishing way, God has given each of us gifts to fulfill His appointment for us. Call them abilities or talents, God has assigned them to you and me. Neither of us decide what we get. God does. Relax, all knowing God does not make mistakes. Our gifts are exactly what He has planned for us to have. Read the words of Jesus on appointments:

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” John 15:16

You ask what is my appointment? What has God put me here on this earth to do? While there are other things God has “appointed” each of us to do…We’ll keep this simple…there is one priority appointment for all of us alive on earth. In the very next verse of John 15, Jesus gave us the answer. He said, “This s my command, that you love each other.”

Nature works because living things keep their appointments.

The first human appointment is: “Love each other.” God has given us gifts for this. When we ask Him he will help us to love others.

What would happen in this world if we kept our first “appointment” and loved each other? Would you like to see it? You and I can keep our “appointment.” We can love our neighbors.