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What is life all About?
by Robert Coleman "Although we agree in calling life a burden, very few of us are willing to lay it down. The thought of impending death causes us all alarm,"[1] wrote John Wesley, the father of Methodism. The irony is quite clear, isn't it? Many of us go about complaining and philosophizing on how difficult and pointless life is. "Life is a waste of time", one might remark as if to suggest that time is more valuable than life. Yet at the slightest hint of death we hurriedly seek ways to protect our lives. If life is indeed pointless then why protect it or keep it? Why do we get scared at the thought of impending death? Death: A Clue to Life's Purpose A humorous story is told of a man who decided to commit suicide since life to him had become burdensome and meaningless. After considering a number of methods by which he would accomplish this task he thought it wise to seek a friend's counsel on the best method to employ. The friend suggested hanging. "What!" he exclaimed, clearly horrified by his friend's suggestion. "I tried that once and I almost lost my life," he said. The point really is this: we may entertain the belief that life has no ultimate purpose but it is when death comes closest that we are forced to re-evaluate our commitment to this belief. Like C. S. Lewis suggested, we never really know how much we believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to us.[2] The general human reluctance to die and leave this life is a real clue that we are here for a purpose beyond ourselves. The Christian scriptures teach that man is created by God and for God. If you accept this teaching then life must be deemed sacred. If you reject this teaching then you are left to your own autonomy since you trace your existence to no supreme being; you subject your decisions ultimately only to the dictates of your own desires. You decide what is right or wrong. In essence you are the standard for your life; you are your own god. For many who believe this way, personal happiness then becomes the prime goal in life. "I'm in this life to meet my needs and longings and just make myself happy," goes the thinking. The Ever-present Human Hungers J. M. Njoroge, a Christian Apologist, notes however, that "trying to meet our real needs without God is like trying to satisfy our thirst with salty water: the more we drink, the thirstier we become. This is a sure path to various sorts of addictions."[3] You see, in our human nature are found various deep longings; the longing to belong or for fellowship, the longing for respect and significance, the longing for affection, the longing to give and receive love, the longing for intellectual satisfaction. All these longings find their complete satisfaction in God our creator. But outside of God, we will require so many different things to feed these longings (which never go away; they only change positions and increase from time to time) and it gets frustrating. The Bible says that "human desires are like the world of the dead there is always room for more" (Proverbs 27:20 GNB). The Search for Answers Some people experiment with many things - religion, money, sex, alcohol, relationships or family life, work, a fast paced life, academics and the list goes on ad infinitum - in their quest to find that special thing that will quench the thirst in their deepest being. In their book "Happiness Is a Choice", Psychologists, Frank Minirth and Paul Meier came to the conclusion that a lot of people choose happiness as an aim in life but are unable to attain it simply because they seek for this inner peace and joy in the wrong places. They pursue happiness in materialism but do not find it. Joy sought in sexual adventures culminates in fleeting pleasures and bitter long-term disappointments. People seek for inner fulfillment by obtaining powerful positions in corporations, in government, and other social groups yet all these leave them unfulfilled.[4] The Anti-Climax Although not many of us who have failed in our attempts to attain inner fulfilment would readily admit this openly, King Solomon, however, is one of the few who has done so. In the book of Ecclesiastes he says: "I decided to enjoy myself and find out what happiness is. Driven on by my desire for wisdom, I decided to cheer myself up with wine and have a good time. I thought that this might be the best way people can spend their short lives on earth. "I accomplished great things. I built myself houses and planted vineyards. I planted gardens and orchards, with all kinds of fruit trees in them; I dug ponds to irrigate them. I bought many slaves, and there were slaves born in my household. I owned more livestock than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem. I also piled up silver and gold from the royal treasuries of the lands I ruled. Men and women sang to entertain me, and I had all the women a man could want. Anything I wanted, I got. I did not deny myself any pleasure. I was proud of everything I had worked for, and all this was my reward. Then I thought about all that I had done and how hard I had worked doing it, and I realized that it didn't mean a thing. It was like chasing the windof no use at all." [Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 GNB] Just think about the last line, "It was like chasing the windof no use at all." It sounds like a rather disappointing end, doesn't it? Yet these are the words of one who denied himself no pleasure. Christian philosopher, Dr. Ravi Zacharias has noted that the lowliest point in life is at the stage when you have just accomplished what you thought would deliver the ultimate and it has let you down. How true! Indeed there is nothing else so depressing than climbing to the top only to find that there is nothing there. Elvis Presley, of whom The New York Times newspaper, on the day of his death, described as "once the object of such adulation that teen-age girls screamed and fainted at the sight of him"[5] was asked the following question by an interviewer six weeks before his death: "Elvis, when you started out in music, you said you wanted to be rich; you wanted to be famous; and you wanted to be happy. You sure are rich, and you're very, very famous. Are you happy, Elvis?" To this the Rock and Roll icon replied, "No, I'm not happy. I'm as lonely as hell."[6] Is there a Real Answer? Yes! Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian, who was hanged for conspiring to assassinate Adolf Hitler, once observed that happiness and peace depend so little on circumstances; they depend really on what happens inside a person. King Solomon, after pursuing several vanities of life finally gives this advice in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (GNB): "After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for. God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret." The Bible says that everyone has sinned and is far away from God's saving presence (Romans 3:23 GNB). The word sin has the idea of 'missing the mark'. And the prophet Isaiah captures this idea when he says, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; " (Isaiah 53:6 GNB).[7] Sin disconnects the core of our being from its life giving source God, who is our creator and sustainer. But the reality is that there is some degree of pleasure in sin, or at least most sins. It is deception to think that sin is not enjoyable. Sin gives pleasure! This is why a liar, a cheat, an adulterer or a serial killer might say of his actions: "it felt so good" or "It feels so right." However, a sin-generated pleasure is not lasting; soon it turns sour and empty and one will need increased stimuli to repeat the last pleasurable experience. Thus a cheat will cheat more and an immoral person will engage in more immoral acts. But man was made to have fellowship with God and a sinful life brings a sense of restlessness and often a general lose of meaning in life because the divinely intended fellowship has been broken by sin. A person may thus look quite happy in appearance but something can be missing deep down in the heart. There is, as one might say, a kind of God-shaped void in everyone. St. Augustin was spot-on when he prayed saying, "for Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee."[8] God made us as finite creatures yet placed in us a longing for the infinite. God, the only Infinite Being, is the one that can infinitely meet our deepest need. No finite substitute will do. Indeed, not only can God meet our deepest needs but he actually wants to. A good reading of the Bible shows that God yearns to give Himself and to satisfy our souls with the richness of his goodness. He has taken the first step of extending a hand of forgiveness to us even though we have not sought it: "For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life." (John 3:16 GNB). Jesus Christ is this Son who was crucified for our sins and if only you will believe in him today as your saviour, all your sins will be forgiven by God and you can make a fresh start with God. Do you know about Jesus Christ? And have you believed in him? If you have believed in him, are you allowing this belief to have a purifying effect on your nature? A right relationship with God, which is only through Jesus Christ, brings life's true meaning to the heart, soul and mind. Are you right with God? References: [1] A Summary of John Wesley's First Sermon: "Death and Deliverance," Job 3.17, October 3, 1725. 2/4, http://www.gbgm-umc.org/churchgroveumc/sect29.shtml . Accessed on January 14, 2012. [2] C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed, Ch. 1, p.448 as published in The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics, Copyright 2002 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. [3] J M Njoroge, Alienation and Restoration, RZIM A Slice of Infinity E-mail [2375], January 31, 2011. [4] Quoted in Cries of the Heart,by Ravi Zacharias, p. 130. 2002 [5] Molly Ivins, Elvis Presley Dies; Rock Singer was 42, The New York Times, August 16, 1977, http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0816.html . Accessed on January 14, 2012. [6]Spencer Gear, Youth Suicide: A Cultural Cancer, http://gear.dyndns.org/~spencer/Youth/youthsuicideculturalcancer.html . Accessed on January 14, 2012. [7] As translated in the New International Version (NIV). Bible, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011. [8] St. Aurelius Augustin (Bishop of Hippo), Confessions, Book 1, Chapter 1.1, Translated by J. G. Pilkington, 1876. Robert G. Coleman is a Christian writer with interest in Christian Apologetics and Evangelism. He is the author of the book, 'Why Don't I Feel My Faith'. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |