davidbowerkingwood

What is our Purpose in Life Today?

In Part 1 we considered the original purpose of man prior to his violation of the one conditional clause and learned that the purpose of man had changed from ruler to worker. Mankind has now been living with that change for thousands of years so what about us today, what about you and me, how do we fit in today as we live our normal lives?

We must again look to the Bible for answers to that question. In both the Old and New Testaments it is made clear that we must earn our livelihood by working. In my blog on work I wrote:

“As you can tell from the above I’m convinced we will have a busy and productive eternity with our Lord. But that is yet to come so what about now, you may ask. I believe the Bible speaks in several places about our responsibilities to work during our mortal lifetimes. In 1 Timothy 5:8 we read, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” In Galatians 6:4-5 we read, “Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.” In 2 Thessalonians 3:11-12 we read, “We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.”

It is evident the personal work ethic is equally supported in both Testaments but as I concluded in that blog we work to live, not live to work. Our work supports our life so then what should the goal of our life be?

A Life Goal

Again I turn to the Bible and find an answer in our Lord’s sermon on the mount. In Matthew 6:31-34 our Lord reveals His truth about the purpose of our lives. “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

So, there we have it, the purpose of our lives is to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of those other things will be added on. Does this then negate our obligation to work, no, it does not. We are still living on a cursed world and within a satanic world system and we have to earn our food by the sweat of our brow; beyond that though our main responsibility is to seek God and His righteousness.

Seeking God is a daily pursuit that should occupy our minds during all of those moments of discretionary thought; those times when our immediate responsibilities for living do not require active decision making on our part.

One thing I do is to see God’s hand and presence in everything; I’m always mindful that it is God who has created all things and even sustains them in their existence from moment to moment. Any moment of beauty brings prayers of praise to my mind and I bless the Lord and rejoice in His bounty and His gracious love for His children.

Another thing that brings joy to me is my pattern of conversational prayer with the Lord; I am so aware of His presence in my life and see Him as my constant companion so I talk to Him all day long and discuss everything with Him; I do this silently however as I do not want people to think I’m crazy.

Life’s One Big Question with the Book Answer as a Bonus

One last point and that concerns life’s one big question. Life is a pass/fail test and regardless of whatever else you may accomplish if you answer life’s question incorrectly you will have eternal problems so big you don’t even want to think about them.

The question is simple, “Do you receive Christ as your personal Savior?” If your answer is yes, you pass, if your answer is no you fail. There is no fence straddling or position of neutrality in this matter. We often hear John 3:16 quoted as a salvation verse and it does a good job of explaining this gift of God’s grace. John 3:17-18 is less often quoted but tells the rest of the story; “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

The third chapter concludes in verse 36 with the following; “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

Life then is a matter of great eternal consequences with results that never end. For those who pass by saying yes to Christ, it is eternal life with God the Creator as part of His family. For those who fail, by rejecting the gift of salvation in Christ, it is eternal damnation and suffering in the Lake of Fire.

In case any are reading this that has not made this vital decision, I include the following:

“Becoming a Christian is simply believing in Jesus as your Savior. We are told in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

You can have everlasting life by asking Jesus to come into your heart; just pray to him like this:

Lord, I want you to be my Savior, I believe you died for my sins and I accept the payment you made for me on the cross. Thank you for coming into my life. Amen.”

If you have prayed that prayer and mean it then congratulations, you’ve just joined God’s eternal family and moved from death to life.