Many of us, especially our youth, search for meaning and purpose in life. We ask questions like "Who am I?," "Why are we here?," or "What's the purpose of life?" Others want to know what brings true happiness in life. They try to ponder on what really matters in this life or ask, "Is there life after death?"
And where can we find answers to these questions? I don't presume that I know all the answers to these queries. I still ask some similar questions at times.
Why do I do what I do? What do I want to accomplish or prove? Why am I still frustrated at times in spite of the fact that I am already in Christ and have a saving knowledge of God?
I may not be able to find all the answers to these questions or may not be satisfied with the answers if ever I find them. What's more important is that God has revealed His purpose for us, giving us wisdom, light, and direction in this life in His written Word, the Bible.
One profound theologian who has been influential in my life has written some of his thoughts on these matters. He begins to write saying, "What were we made for? To know God.
"What aim should we set ourselves in life? To know God.
"What is the 'eternal life' that Jesus gives? Knowledge of God. 'This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent' (Jn 17:3).
"What is the best thing in life, bringing joy, delight and contentment than anything else? Knowledge of God. 'This is what the Lord says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me"' (Jer 9:23-24).
"What, of all the states God ever sees man in, gives God most pleasure? Knowledge of himself. "I desired...the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings," says God (Hos 6:6 KJV).
"In these few sentences we have said a very great deal. Our point is one to which every Christian heart will warm, though the person whose religion is merely formal will not be moved by it. (And by this very fact his unregenerate state may be known.) What we have said provides at once a foundation, shape and goal for our lives, plus a principle of priorities and a scale of values.
"Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life's problems fall into place of their own accord...
"What makes life worthwhile is having a big enough objective, something which catches our imagination and lays hold of our allegiance; and this the Christian has in a way that no other person has. For what higher, more exalted, and more compelling goal can there be than to know God" (James I. Packer, "Knowing God," 33-34).
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