A MEANINGFUL LIFE
LIBERTY AND LOVE #104
It confounds the imagination to consider all the ways of God. Indeed, we are warned in the Bible that the conduct of God is so far above us that we cannot begin to understand him or grasp what he is doing in our lives (Isa. 55:8-9). He has put us here on earth and given us our existence for the simple reason that he was pleased to do it. There is no other explanation that will suffice. God is God and we are not; therefore everything that is perceived concerning him will be based on what he has chosen to reveal.
The glorious life of a believer has “the promise of the life that now is, and that which is to come” (1 Tim. 4:8), which indicates that God’s people have the benefit of, not only an abundant and joyful life here in our earthly existence, but also the assurance of eternal life when this fleeting pilgrimage is over. Loving Jesus, then, is the most important pursuit there is.
The Bible has the record of what is most important in life and how a sustained focus upon God is to be experienced and enjoyed. All people without Christ have one thing in common: they are looking for something. There is something missing in their lives and they know it. Some search for the missing link in the chain of happy living through the avenue of temporary pleasure—drug and alcohol abuse, promiscuous sexual activity, and other forms of ungodliness which appeal to the sensual desires of the body. Many are of kindred spirit to the Israelites of old who reveled in unenduring gratification: “The Lord, the LORD Almighty, called you on that day to weep and to wail, to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth. But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! ‘Let us eat and drink,’ you say, ‘for tomorrow we die!’” (Isa. 22:12-13).
A life lived in the pursuit of temporal pleasure consists of vain days and nights which amount to nothing in the end. “And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thess. 2:11-12). Taking pleasure in unrighteousness leads to destruction. Those who live the wicked life, searching for meaning in rebellion against God, are like the widow Paul speaks of who “lives for pleasure” and therefore is “dead even while she lives” (1 Tim. 5:6). They are “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Tim. 3:4).
In the Book of Ecclesiastes, we see Solomon’s record of a life lived in the worthless pursuit of earthly treasures. The theme of this book is “vanity”—the utter futility of living merely for earthly ambitions. King Solomon described the folly of seeking satisfaction in temporary pleasure as follows. Read Ecclesiastes 2 and see the things that Solomon pursued in order to find meaning in his life.
Solomon tried it all: wine, women, and song; possession, human achievement, money, prestige and power; He was left disappointed every time. The second verse of Ecclesiastes, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,” sums up this dilemma. Solomon learned the hard way what God is trying to help us avoid learning the hard way: all human endeavor and achievement is empty, worthless, and leaves us disappointed if pursued as an end to itself. It is only when we pursue God (Matt. 6:33), and use every other endeavor as a means of glorifying Him, that our lives are worth living.
Over and over, Solomon makes the point that earthly pleasure, human wisdom, hard work, popularity, wealth and fame all fail to bring lasting satisfaction. His conclusion becomes, “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (12:13). The only thing that matters is our relationship with God.
Job 14:1-2 says, “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue.” The Hebrew writer states, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb 9:27).
The rich young ruler in Mark chapter 10 could not follow Jesus because he had many possessions, or better yet, the possessions had him. The young man did not realize what was important, and what was not. His eyes were on the things directly in front of him, and he “went away sorrowful” rather than committing his life to the Lord. He was evidently one of those “whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their mind on earthly things” (Phil 3:19).
Live your life by faith in Jesus. Be a follower of Christ, and depend on what he has done for you to make you right with God. Do not live a life of vanity. Faith is the way to a meaningful life.
Dewayne Dunaway
