A man without the right purpose for navigating the sea of existence is like a ship without a rudder. He will wander aimlessly and even settle for ludicrous reasons for the journey.
To a dog a stick has but one purpose. It is for chasing. It is hard to get in touch with any other reason for its existence.
A LIFE article (12/88) once asked a group of people why humans exist. One man answered: "We're here to die, just live and die. I drive a cab. I do some fishing, take my girl out, pay taxes, do a little reading, then get ready to drop dead. You've got to be strong about it. Life is a big fake. Nobody gives a damn. You're rich or you're poor. You're here, you're gone. You're like the wind. After your gone, other people will come. We're going to destroy ourselves, nothing we can do about it. The only cure for the world's illness is nuclear war - wipe everything out and start over."
If John Calvin had read the above he would say again as he once said, "All who are ignorant of the purpose for which they live are fools and madmen."
But God gives believers in Jesus Christ the ultimate in purpose. The Apostle Paul declared, "For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s" (Romans 14:7,8). And again, he says, "Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:20,21).
The Christian lives for God's glory and personifies that by making Jesus Christ his reason for living.
Another man in that LIFE article said we all should purpose to go back to Eden, make friends with the snake and set up our computers among the wild apple trees." Wow! Such is a pretty empty and wildly delusional reason for living. I think Christianity and Paul and all the Scripture give us a substantive and hopeful reason for living. There is more to living than just chasing sticks. We are here to live for Almighty God, the God of the Bible, and to glorify Him in His Son Jesus the Christ.
- Dick Christen
