The Meaning of Life
It seems to me that if you want to attain some thing, then it is good to know exactly how it can be attained. Now the thing that I am talking about is heaven. I want to go to heaven. Such a simple thing to say, but how, exactly, does one go? Who, exactly, gets to go?
Every single thing that God has ordained that we should do is designed to bring us to heaven, that is to say, to the place where God lives. There is not one word of instruction in the Bible that is for God's benefit. The words of the Bible benefit those who will listen and obey. They are given to you from a loving concern for your welfare. They are like the warning given to a child by his or her mother that says "Remember to look both ways before you cross the street." God's words are just like that. They are not meant to limit you, but to guide you safely through life, so that in the end you arrive safely in heaven. The child that does not listen to his or her mother's words is likely to get killed on the road. The child that listens to God's words, listening to hear and obey, listening intently, will not stumble and fall along the way, but will eventually arrive.
Five times in the book of Ecclesiastes we see the phrase "Everything is meaningless." It takes a certain level of wisdom to understand what that means. It means that there is nothing in this world that has any importance at all, apart from having a living relationship with God. It doesn't matter if you are rich, or whether you are poor.
Proverbs 30:8-9
Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.
9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?'
Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.(NIV)
Did you notice that the focus of this passage is about having a relationship with God? Money just doesn't matter. To simply have enough, is enough. My friend, do you believe this? If you are striving to have more money then you have taken your eye off the ball. Don't take your eye off God, even for a moment. You will have your eye on whatever you have your faith in. This is a fact. To have your eye on anything other than God is both foolish and dangerous.
You were put on this earth for one, and only one, reason, and that is so that you can have a living relationship with God. Every other reason is meaningless. This relationship with God is the Meaning of Life. You can think of life as a great game. To win the game you must have a living relationship with God. No relationship--you lose!
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.(NIV)
This passage tells us this about the Meaning of Life. It says that the conclusion of the matter, that is to say, the Bottom Line, is to Fear God and keep his commandments, for as this passage says, "this is the whole duty of man."
Some coworker of mine, years ago told me that as a youth he had a job as a sheepherder in Montana. He then told me about the sheepdogs and how they trained them. He told me that they would tie a rope around the neck of an experienced sheepdog and then tie the other end around the neck of the newcomer, with about ten feet of slack in between. Now the trainee is standing around smelling the roses, listening to the birds, watching the grasshoppers and in general whistling Dixie. The sheepherder would give the dogs the silent hand signal command for the dogs to act. The experienced dog would then flash off to obey, and the unsuspecting student would get a rude awakening. After a few neck-twisting experiences the trainee dog would start paying attention to what was going on and would soon notice the signals issued by the shepherd. My friend told me that a dog could be trained in less than a day using this technique.
Now this technique is incredibly like real life for us. God the Father is the shepherd and he knows what is going on. He gives the command to the experienced follower of commands, that is, to Jesus Christ. Jesus instantly obeys the command and those that are connected to him, that is, the true Christian believers, either move to keep in God's will willingly, or they are abruptly knocked into obedience. You, my friend, can be either watching the television, or looking out the window musing, or you can be alertly watching for the Lord's instruction.
The signals for us are given through our intimate knowledge of God, through the Bible, that is, we come to know God, and so when events in our lives occur, we know what direction that Jesus would go, because we have been paying attention. If we have not been paying attention, that is, if we have been going to "church" and listening to the glorious music and the fine sounding sermons, then when events occur we find that we are oblivious to what is going on, and we find that we are abruptly and uncomfortably forced into motion. That is assuming that we truly do belong to the Shepherd.
My friend, if you truly belong to God and you are getting jerked around a lot, then consider carefully what I have been saying. If you really do have faith, that is, you truly do belong to God, then God will not let you drift away from him without a fight. When you are lazily daydreaming along when you need to be doing something else, well then God will force you into action through outside events. You will do what God wants you to do, but it is much easier for you if you are paying attention and are quick to do the right thing.
Now, I said earlier that the reason that you are here at all is that you might get connected to God, that is, have that rope around your neck that connects you to him, as it were. That rope is all-important.
Ecclesiastes 12:6-7
Remember him--before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, 7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.(NIV)
The rope that I have been talking about is the "silver cord" that is mentioned in this passage. Now I hope you understand that the cord is not really around your neck. But, if you are truly connected to God then the effect is very similar to what I have been saying. Remember that this is what it is all about. To be connected to God; to have faith in him; to obey him and love him. To have faith in God.
Now, I want to talk about some major distractions that take people's eyes off God. These things are the things that people seem to look at most when they should have their eye on God.
I have previously mentioned money because it is the biggest problem around, but is not at all the only distraction. Consider man's faith in technology. Consider carefully what I am saying. What do you think is going to save you? What is going to make your life better and easier? I mean it's hot out and it's humid and so you figure that you work hard and make enough money, so you buy an air-conditioner. My friend, if you are striving for a pleasant life you have your eye on the wrong thing. I don't have anything against air-conditioners. I don't have anything against electricity or washing machines or whatever, but I know enough to keep my eye on God. The other stuff doesn't matter. Having a comfortable life is not important. Being healthy is not even important when compared to being connected to God. Nothing is important compared to that. Nothing!
Now, a lot of people in the western world go on about the virtues of democracy. My friend you must be very careful about this one. Its allure is almost irresistible. They've got that "Christian Coalition" thing going on and it sounds so right, but I am telling you its only a pretty distraction--glass beads. We are not to have our eye on worldly government. We cannot save the world. The world is doomed to destruction. We are not here to make the world a better place. We are here to do God's will. If you have your eye on politics then it is not on God.
Democracy is completely against God's way. Heaven is not a democracy. God is King. God is always right. His will will always prevail. The idea that the common man should say what is what is totally wrong. It is an abomination for the common man to rule in God's place. I am not advocating a change of government. That would be just as wrong. My point is that it is all "everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind" (Ecclesiastes 2:11.) Whatever form of government the people want for themselves is not important to me. It doesn't concern me. My eye is on the Word of the Lord. Do you understand what I am saying? World stuff, concerns people of the world, and I am not a person of the world, anymore. I have been connected to God. I take my cues from God.
The liberty that is promised through democracy is a lie. Those that have their faith in democracy are slaves to sin. The Bible clearly teaches this, so keep your eye on the ball my friend. If your rope is tied to worldly things then when the world goes down, and it will surely go down, then you will go down with it.
Revelation 18:4
Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;(NIV)
This passage is telling you that if you are part of the world's government, and its ways, then you will share in its punishment. Divorce yourself from the world. Don't be a part of it. Be innocent of its wrong doings.
Now, lest I be misunderstood, I would like to say that we are not to oppose our governments. We are to obey the spirit of every law so long as it does not violate God's instruction. It is just that we must not put our faith in our governments. We are not to participate in them. This article is written to those that are God's children, to those that are citizens of heaven.
Philippians 3:20
But our citizenship is in heaven.(NIV)
If you are a citizen of heaven then what are you doing getting involved in worldly government?
There is a saying that says, "Locks keep honest people out."
1 Timothy 1:9
"We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers..."(NIV)
The word "law" here is not talking about biblical law only, but governmental law as well. The laws that governments make are not truly for you. I don't mean that you can disobey the law, only that when you are following God's signals there is no need for you to be told to do right. You will be doing right. You will not be defrauding your brother, or your government. What I am saying is that you don't need the world to tell you to do right, you have God telling you that. So keep your eye on God.
Capitalism Vs Communism Vs whatever "ism", they are all just a distraction. Don't spend your time or energy concerning yourself with what will soon be destroyed. Don't be concerned about the "economy," or the stock market, or mutual funds, (whatever they are.) The world will soon enter judgment and whoever has their faith in the world's ways will enter that judgment too.
I was thinking the other day about the wonders of modern medicine in the light of the Bible. Did you know that Abraham was one hundred and seventy-five years old when he died? (Genesis 25:7) And did you know that Isaac lived one hundred and eighty years? (Genesis 35:28) And Jacob lived one hundred and forty-seven years. (Genesis 47:28) So, when you consider the miracles of modern medicine in the light of God's health plan, well what can I say; not so impressive.
My point is not to belittle the efforts of modern medicine, but to show you that modern medicine is battling a war that it cannot win. What does it profit a man to be cured of some illness and yet he does not have his faith in God? And I am talking about faith in the way that your focus is on God, and not on worldly things--watching God like that sheepdog trainee had his eyes on the shepherd after his first jerking surprises. I am not talking about the person that "accepted Jesus" and goes to "church." I am talking about a person that is connected to God, that has a living faith in God's Word, that lives an obedient life, as far as he or she is able. I am talking about a person that has ears that hear and eyes that see.
My friends, I imagine that some of you think that I am a fanatic; that I have an unnecessary zeal for God, but I am only telling you what I have received from God. Or perhaps you accuse me of being legalistic, (an accusation that has been charged to me many times), but I am only trying to help you. The things that I have mentioned are necessary steps if you want to make it to heaven. Modern teaching says that if you say that you are a Christian then you are, but this is not true. You are a Christian when you have been connected to God; when you have the Teacher living inside of you; when you have a living relationship with God.
If your love for God is true, then leave worldly concerns behind and seek out God's ways. Keep your eye on the Chief Shepherd and live as Jesus lives.
1 John 2:6
Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.(NIV)
The meaning of life is this: that you get yourself connected to God through Jesus Christ and that you fear God, that is, that you honor him as your Lord and you obey him as his subject. This is the reason that God made the universe. This is the reason for everything. There is nothing of importance other than your life being connected to God.
Matthew 16:26
What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?(NIV)