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Last night my husband and I were watching a re-run of an old sitcom where a child about ten years of age asks the parent about the meaning of life. "If we all go to heaven when we die anyway, why does God put us here first?" she said. The father fumbles around with an answer and then feigns a coughing fit and leaves the room.
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Eventually the mother decided that the point of being placed on this earth is to never know why! They decided to wing it and return to talk to the little girl, who has forgotten the question and is now playing with her younger siblings. The question is never anwered.
Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun--all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. Ecclesiastes 9:9
"Then it wouldn't be funny." My husband said.
I did not think it was funny at all. I thought it was terribly, terribly sad. (As you can imagine, I am a whole lot of fun to watch TV with! *wink*)
How many people approach this question the same way? I wondered.
When I was a child, I attended a Lutheran school for a couple of years. One of the things that I remember was memorizing a catechism. Every once in a while, I think of this one question and it's answer:
Question: What is the chief end of man?
Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy Him forever.
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God created us to have a relationship with Him.
It is His desire to have a close friendship.
That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
To enjoy and be enjoyed.
The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17
Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, "Let God be magnified!" Psalm 70:4
To communicate.
Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. Psalm 40:5
Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left. Isaiah 30:21
To LOVE and BE LOVED.
"Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments... Deuteronomy 7:9
Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us...But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:5,8
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 8:38-39
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1Jo 4:9-10
YOU were created to LOVE and BE LOVED BY GOD!
So there you have it!
Your purpose. The meaning of life.
photo credit Matters of the Heart
4 comments:
Latisha--visiting from over at SDG (our posts are next to each other.)
I enjoyed this a lot--the cartoons were funny/sad. But your quote from the Westminster Catechism--what is the chief end of man?--is a foundation stone in my walk with Jesus. I want to glorify God in all I do.........
Wonderful post.
Sometimes I forget that I know the answer to this question and I panic for awhile. Then someone or something reminds me of this. You post did that for me today.
I am SO glad that this was a good reminder for you today!
Truly, a touching post as it enlightened my soul and brain regarding the bamboozling question what is the meaning of life. I gained a lot from the lines written in the post. Thanks a ton to the author of the blog.
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