The Good news is you can have purpose in this life.
Today suicides are increasing in all age groups especially in our youth. Why? When all the expectations of this life’s goals are met, the euphoria is realized as only temporary. Consider rock stars and entertainers who have reached what they would define as life’s precipice. Sadly, theses iconic models fall dramatically, dispatching themselves from their lofty heights. We need to honestly analyze the things here in this life we think will bring happiness. In the end, will these temporary things be defined as only benefiting one’s self? Self-servitude is a dark and lonely place and breeds disparity. These loveless feelings and lack hope discourages a person’s ability to look forward. The temporal faith creates a personal god that is self-condemning. Denial of a life to come also justifies the disappointment this life has to offer. The deception of no eternal goal is the devil’s tool to create hopelessness and a life without purpose. An honest self-examination gives us the real reason we find ourselves in such a dark and loveless state. Consider the following:
Why am I so conflicted?
Jer. 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. KJV
Ecc. 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. KJV
Does God really have a purpose for me?
Jer. 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. KJV
I have done so many ungodly things, does God still want me?
2Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. KJV
If I repent and follow God, I will have to leave some things behind to move forward.
Mark 10:29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, 30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. KJV
How do I overcome being self-serving?
Mark 9:35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. KJV
How do I begin having purpose in life serving and loving God and then having eternal life?
John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. KJV
Have I waited too long to serve Christ with my life and receive a servants reward?
Mat. 20:8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. 9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. 10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. 11 And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man of the house, 12 Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? 16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. KJV
The Good news is you can start a new life now that has purpose. The Good news is you can be a servant as a good example of repentance and lead others to Christ. The Good news is that you can now have the hope of eternal life. Would you like to start that life now? The Good news is you can obey the Gospel!
By Tim Anderson. Evangelist and minister at the Eastern U.P. Church of Christ