Thinking about the Meaning and Purpose of Life
It is traditional to evaluate our lives at the turn of the year. It is a good thing to pause and consider the meaning and purpose of life and to see if the way we have been going lines up with our vision and values. Life has a way of pushing us off course. Our lives will deviate from the trajectory that will get us home, so to speak, unless we continually reorient ourselves toward the proper goal. Just as a plane must make course corrections because of the pressure of contrary winds, we must make similar corrections because we have external and internal forces pulling and pushing us off course.
For the Christian, the proper orientation in life will always lead us to bring glory to God. The first step toward gaining this orientation is to surrender our lives to the risen Lord Jesus, the Messianic King. The first and most basic sin is to try to command our own lives instead of living in harmony with God and his purposes. The essence of repentance is turning our lives back over to our Creator – Sustainer – Redeemer – Lord. Once we do this, we gain an internal compass whose name is the Holy Spirit. We also have an external map called the Bible. People in the wilderness learn how to orient themselves with a map using a compass. God means for us to navigate life using the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.
In order to make things as simple as possible, God has given us two major landmarks to guide us – The Great Commandment and the Great Commission. If we keep properly oriented to these two landmarks, we will do just fine.
The Holy Spirit will take care of the details as we keep on course toward the main objectives of glorifying God and loving people.
The Great Commandment teaches us that the main thing God wants from us is our love. He wants us to focus on loving him and the people around us. The Great Commission, to go and make disciples, simply gives us one of the best ways to express this love for other people. We are to tell them about the amazing thing God has done through Jesus in making it possible for us to be reconciled to God. We are to help people become part of God’s eternal family and teach them to orient their lives around the Great Commandment and Great Commission, too.
God could have made the main thing studying the Bible, praying, or worshiping, but instead he chose one word – love. Love includes doing all the things that make love grow. But it is possible to do all the “things” without expressing love. Most of us are oriented toward measurable accomplishments, but God seems to want us to focus on something that is impossible to measure, at least for us.
In 2023, I believe the Lord wants us to focus on loving God and our neighbor more than on any measurable thing.
If we truly love someone, we will want the best for them. It goes without saying that the best for everyone is to be in a right relationship with God. Therefore, love will seek to introduce people to the gospel. We will love people enough to help them live in a way that will bring the most glory and honor to God and joy and fulfillment to themselves. This is what it means to be make disciples. It is really not as complicated as we try to make it.
Jesus did not require his apostles to go to seminary. He taught them what they needed to know for three years and then turned them over to their internal compass, the Holy Spirit, who would guide them using the road map of the Bible.
Life is a journey guided by the Spirit and the Word of God. It is supposed to be a joyful adventure, not religious drudgery.
May 2023 be a year for us to joyfully follow God into a fulfillment of the Great Commandment and Great Commission. May we love God and people enough to expend ourselves for them, all to the glory of God.
Come join us!
We welcome you to be part of our community!
