The Meaning Of Life

Greater minds than I have tackled this one.

We've all asked this question, in one form or another. Why am I here? What am I supposed to be doing? What's the point? What on earth am I here for? This question has many forms, but they're all the same. What is our purpose for existing?

According to Plato, the meaning of life is attaining the highest form of knowledge. His pupil Aristotle disagreed, and came to the conclusion that the purpose of life is attaining happiness. Epicurus thought the meaning of life was pleasure, while Existentialists believe everyone creates their own purpose, and Nihilists believe there is no meaning at all.

So who's right?

I turn to the Bible for my answer.

There are many passages in the Bible to which we could turn to help us answer this question. While none will be so clear as to say, The meaning of life is . . . ., many do answer the question. And despite the fact that the Bible was written by around 40 different individuals over a period of a millennium and a half, each author was inspired to reach the same conclusion.

The meaning of life is God.

Someone once asked Jesus about the meaning of life.

The story is found in Matthew 22, verses 34-40. A Pharisee, an expert in Jewish law, asked Jesus, "Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"  For him, the Law represented God's will and purpose, so he was really asking, "According to the Law, what am I supposed to do?" In other words, what is the meaning of life.

Jesus' answer, known popularly as The Greatest Commandment, is simple. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

There it is. According to the source of all knowledge (God Himself), the meaning of life is to love God and love your neighbor as yourself.

Now what?

If the meaning of life is to love God and love our neighbor, how do we do it?

Honestly, I think we already know. Loving God means putting Him first, serving Him with everything we have and are.  Loving our neighbor as ourselves means treating Jane and Joe the same way I would treat me, or the way I would want to be treated. It's not hard to understand what those two rules mean.

It's the application that's difficult.

We have to put God first in all things. I wrote about idols yesterday. If we are going to apply the meaning of life to our lives, we have to get rid of the idols that are in God's rightful place, including ourselves. That kicks us down to the second rung of the hierarchy of importance. That step is hard enough. The next one is even harder.

Now we have to move over and make room, on the same level we are, for everyone else. As we learned in the story of the Good Samaritan, our neighbors are not just our friends and relatives; our neighbors include our enemies. And we have to love them. Just like we must love ourselves.

Love God. Love people. 

That's what it boils down to.

That wasn't so hard after all.

 

  

All My Idols Have Fallen

We all have idols.

The Second Commandment tells us that we are not to have idols, and it builds off the first, that we shall have no gods but the One True God. These are fundamental building blocks of our Christian faith, rules that we should not, under any circumstances, break.

But we do.

An idol is an image of anything in heaven or on earth that we bow down to and worship in the place of God. Think you've never had an idol? Let me ask you this: Have you ever respected anything, feared anything, depended on anything, or served anything more than God? Is there anything in your life that gets more of your time, thought, love, devotion, and energy than God? What do you think worship means?

Look at where your time, money, and focus go, and there you will find your god. If all those point to God Almighty, then you are in compliance with the first two of the Ten Commandments. If they point somewhere else, then there your idols lay.

Do I have your attention?

Every idol I've ever had has failed me.

Yes, I've broken the Second Commandment. I've had idols. Money was one. Not that I ever had a lot, and maybe because I didn't have a lot, I worshiped money. I bowed down to money like it was the source of all life and goodness. I sought money, desired money, needed money like the very air I breathe. I thought money would give me life.

It didn't.

Another idol I've had was control or authority. I thought that if I could just be in control of everything, everything would be just fine. The problem was, when I was in control, things didn't go as I wanted. Control let me down.

Fail.

My biggest idol, and the one I still struggle with at times, is myself. This one led to the fall of no other than Lucifer himself. Our culture has given self idolization a much less onerous name: Pride. We've made pride something to be proud of. We've not only elevated pride, but we've demonized humility. I thought that a man without pride wasn't a man at all.

Unfortunately, the more I learned about myself, the more I realized I had nothing to be proud about. I saw that my pride didn't lift me up, but rather held me down. My idol became my downfall.

Epic fail.

And so it is that every idol will fall.

God told us not to make an idol of anything on earth or in heaven. We have, in turn, taken everything on earth and in heaven and, at one point or another, turned them into idols. I'm not just talking about "bad" things, like pornography, alcoholism, or demon worship. I'm talking about things like our jobs, money, knowledge. Love, relationships, "happiness." None of these are bad, until they take the place of God.

That's when they become idols.

Here's the reality: Every idol will fall. When every knee bows, and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord, all idols will be proven worthless. You can wait to do that on the day of judgment, if you choose, but be prepared to spend all of eternity separated from God in hell. That's reality.

Another reality is that long before then, anything you put in God's place will fail you. Money is not a god. Sex is not a god. No person, no thing, no idea, no emotion is a god. There is only one true God, and He is jealous. He does not tolerate anyone worshiping anyone or anything other than Him. Doing so incurs a stiff penalty: Failure.

If you put your faith in something other than God, as I have learned, you and that so-called god will fail. There is no god but God.

All my idols have fallen.

So also shall yours. When they do, if they are all that's holding you up, you're going to end up on the ground right next to them.

Or, worse yet, crushed beneath them. 

It's Time To Slow Down

How do you know if you're going too fast?

My son is learning to drive. One thing that I've noticed is that he doesn't know when he's going too fast, whether it be approaching a stop sign, driving in traffic, or making a turn. Today he asked me how to know if he was going too fast.

That's a good question, not only for someone learning to drive, but for all of us. How do you know if you're going too fast?

If everything around you is a blur, and you can't make out what is going by, you're probably going too fast. When you're turning the wheel, but still going in the same direction, chances are really good that speed is no longer your friend. If you're slamming on the brakes at the last minute, and your passengers are kissing the windshield, there's a problem.

It's time to slow down.

It's easy to get caught up in the rat race.

This time of year, at least for us, seems especially busy. Kids' sports, school activities, yard work, sports I'm involved in . . . the list goes on and on. And the other stuff doesn't go away to make room. We still have to go to work. The kids still get hungry and have to eat. I still need to spend time with my wife, with God, studying, teaching, writing.

It's a lot, and there are only so many hours in the day, so many days in the week.

Pretty soon, it all becomes a blur. I get going so fast, I catch myself coming and going, and whatever I come to, doesn't seem to go right. When I try to change direction, tires screech and smoke and I slide through the intersection sideways.

It's time to slow down.

I'm not going to pretend to have the answers here. If I did, I wouldn't be struggling. Life wouldn't be a blur, and I wouldn't feel like I'm about to careen off a bridge. I do struggle. I often feel like this truck is out of control. I don't get done what I want to do, and what I do, isn't done well.

Some people seem to handle the busyness of life better than others. Me, I need space to maneuver. I need time to react. I don't like to speed, tailgating whoever is in front of me, yelling for them to go faster as I pound on the steering wheel. I don't like to sit in traffic jams, but I don't want to drive in the bumper to bumper freeway race at 80 MPH either. I've seen what happens when people crash at high speeds on the road and on the path of life; it ain't pretty.

We--I--need to slow down.  I don't just want to, I need to. I know my limits, and as much as I'd like to believe I'm ten feet tall and bullet proof, that I could drive NASCAR and win, I know, deep down, I can't. Even a race car out of control isn't going to get where they want to go any time soon. I've crashed before; I don't want to go down that road again.

Some things we can't control; but some we can.

Life is busy, and that's not a bad thing. It's good to stay busy, for as Proverbs 13:4 says, The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. On the other hand, the Bible also says, in Proverbs 23:4, Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.

It is one thing to be diligent. It is quite another to work yourself to a frazzle and wear yourself out. It is the exercise of wisdom to know the difference, and do something about it. For, if I could quote from that wonderful book of Proverbs one more time, 14:1 says, The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

When life's a blur, and you're having trouble keeping it between the lines, it's time to exercise a little wisdom, and slow down.

  

God Is Faithful

This is another blog from my daughter. As I read these words, I relived the whole ordeal; the fear, the tears, the encouragement we gave. We put on a strong front, but after a while, we "grown-ups" thought we knew how the story would end. 

We were wrong.

God was Faithful

40 days

    During winter my dog got loose. I was scared when it happened because I got home from school and he was gone. I didn't know how long he had been gone. I went to look for him around town calling his name and wondering where he was. That night was really sad because we didn't find him. I was praying that he was safe. I had Christmas without my dog which was upsetting cause usually he is right by me when I open gifts. A couple weeks later my mom got a text from someone saying that they thought that they had our dog. My mom went to go see if they did have him. He was there! My mom brought him home and when we got home we got to see him. I was so happy when I saw him because for 40 days I didn't know where he was. During the times that he was gone my mom and dad were telling us that God was faithful and we prayed for our dog to be safe. It might have been a while but in the end God was faithful.

    When I thought about the title I remembered a story I had heard from and had read in the bible.  God sent Jesus up to some mountains with no food or drinks and to stay there for 40 days and 40 nights. During that time Satan came and tempted Jesus. He was saying that since he was Jesus he could just summon bread from the rocks and that he could jump off the rocks and angels would catch him. " Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, " You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve." ( English Standard Version). Even Satan listened to God.

    So in those two stories my family was faithful and Jesus was faithful trusting God by not eating or drinking anything.

So remember all the time God is faithful and God is faithful all the time.

God is faithful. No matter what you are going through, or for how long, God is there. Sometimes we just have to hang on a little longer. I can tell you this much--for us, the rejoicing of my children on day 41 completely replaced the anguish of the previous month and a half. 

God is faithful, and He has the habit of rewarding those who are faithful in return.

Trust God, and have a great week! 

Some Things I'll Never Understand

I don't get math.

I was helping (or trying to anyway) my son with his homework tonight. I believe it was Egyptian hieroglyphics, but he assures me it was Algebra. Some of the symbols looked familiar, and the feeling of lost hopelessness I felt brought back dark memories. We slogged through it, but I don't understand it any better today than I did 25+ years ago.

I made it through math in high school, and tested out of it for college, by following rules I didn't understand to solve problems that made no sense to me. It was hard and unnatural, completely against my nature. Math is supposed to be logical, or so say those brainiacs who understand it. I like logic, but that's a different kind of logic than what I understand.

Kind of like God's plan.

I'm puzzled by what God does, and why He does it. I don't understand young kids losing their lives. I'm confused by election, predestination, and free will. I'm perplexed by why He waits to conquer evil. I'm dumbfounded that He gave His only Son for me. I don't get it. Not really.

I know enough to follow the rules, to pass the test, if you will. But I am not, nor do I think I ever will be capable of thinking like He does. His logic is not my logic. His understanding . . . I do not understand. It makes sense to Him, but I'll never get it. Not in this life, anyway.

It comes down to faith.

I understand that the fundamental laws of math govern a large part of my life. Physics, statistics, geometry--even algebra and calculus define God's creation in human terms (at least they tell me that stuff is human!). Simple as I am, I have to take it on faith. I don't see it, I can't make it work, but I believe they are correct.

So it is with God's plan. I have a better chance understanding fractional trinomial equations than I do trying to determine what God has in store for me tomorrow, or even what He did for me today. I just have to believe, have faith, and trust. I know that He works all things out for the good of those who trust in Him.

Even if we don't have the slightest idea what He's doing.  

I'm Halfway There

That's me sitting there.

Only figuratively, unfortunately. Some may recognize that granite outcropping as Half Dome, in Yosemite National Park. I've never been there literally, though some day I may. Figuratively, though, it's a good picture of where I am.

You see, I'm sitting on a half dome of my life.

Statistically, half of my years are gone. Yet, by those same statistics, I still have half my life before me. Half empty, or half full? Over the hill, or still climbing?

I like to think I'm halfway there.

Where is there?

To say I am halfway is to say that I have an endgame in mind, and indeed I do. Heaven. That's my endgame. When the final whistle blows, that's where I'm headed, and I can't wait! I plan to do my best right to the very end, but when the curtain closes on this life, I'll leave this stage with a smile on my face.  

There is where I want to be.

I don't want to die. I really hope and pray that Jesus comes and takes us all before my mortal life comes to an end. I'm not in a mid-life crisis. I'm not depressed. I'm excited, because I can see the end coming closer.

My day may come tomorrow.

I may be much closer to there than I think--not one of us knows when the Lord will return or when our time will come. I--we--could go home tomorrow, and that would be fine with me. My home isn't here. I am an alien, a sojourner in a foreign land. I am where I belong, but only for now. This is not, thank God, my forever home. That is a place far distant, and though I know not what to expect, I know it'll be better than any of us can imagine.

That day, that final call, can come any time. Not because I am unhappy. Not because I don't like the life I have. Rather, because this life is so good, and the promise is that the next will be infinitely better. Who, having experienced good, does not look forward to better? Who, having been happy, does not look forward to being ecstatic?

I look forward to trading the good of here, for the perfect of there. If God calls me home tomorrow, I will rejoice. If He calls us all, so much the better!

This isn't morose, dark, or gloomy.

This is joy! This is looking forward to the promises God has given us. There is where we are supposed to look for our future, our hope, our joy. Here is temporary; there is eternal. Here is flawed; there is perfect. Here I am broken; there I will be perfect.

How can that be anything but joyful? How can we not yearn for what we have been promised?  Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling . . . (2 Corinthians 5:1, 2).  We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8)

This attitude of mine is not fatalistic nor pessimistic. It is Biblical. It is the attitude that Paul says, in Philippians 3:15, we should all have. We should all be looking heavenward, not with fear and trepidation, but joy and anticipation.

So it is that I say I am halfway there.

Not in remorse, but joy. It is a reminder, an encouragement, a goal set before me so that I can finish this race. Yes, I am only halfway there; and yet, I am halfway there!

It is only with that attitude, not clinging to this life as if it is all we have to hope for, that we can truly say, Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Only then can we live this life for what it truly is. 



 

 

You Matter

That drop of water--that's all I am.

A drop in the ocean. A speck in God's creation. I am so infinitesimal, so insignificant that whatever I am, whatever I do, should not make a difference. 

But it does.

God's plan is so big, so complete, so complex that even the tiniest particle of His Creation matters. The picture would not be complete were it missing the tiniest piece.

That's where I come in.

That's where we all come in.

If we are to admit that God's plan is perfect--and I profess that it is--then we must admit that any deviation from that plan would be less so. If perfection is changed in any way, whether to add to it or take away, it would be something different, and no longer perfect.

You and I, we are part of God's plan. Who we are, where we are, what we do--it matters. Absolutely we are no more than a drop in the ocean, but without those single drops, that ocean, that plan of God, would be changed. Take away any part, even a single molecule, and it would be different. It would be imperfect, incomplete.

You matter.

I matter. Sometimes I don't know how or why, but if I am to believe in God's perfection, in His sovereignty, in His divine Will and Plan then I have to believe that I am part of it. If I am part of it, if I am even the smallest element in His grand design, then I matter.

So do you.

A drop in the ocean, yes. A drop that, were you not there, would leave the ocean something less than it could be.

When that ocean is God's plan, then every single drop matters.

That means you.

Do you believe it?