Does Your Life Have Meaning?

Last week, I asked a young lady what she thought the purpose of life is. I was rather saddened to hear her response. The general idea was we live, die, are buried and then go to heaven or hell. It makes life seem quite meaningless. No wonder so many people are depressed. If that’s all there is to life, life isn’t really worth living. What an empty, worthless existence.

We need something to live for. The world has many things they use to try to fill that longing for a purpose. They live for money, relationships, education, fame, drugs, sports, work, and other things that they think will satisfy self. They’ve tried everything, but it’s all empty. It can never satisfy. When people look back on their life it won’t matter how many football games they watched or how much money they made, the only thing that will matter is God. How much time did we spend praising God? How much time did we spend getting to know Him? How much time did we spend glorifying Him? Did we obey Him? Did follow His will, instead of our own? The only reason to live is for God’s glory. In Ecclesiastes 12, Solomon says, “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all” Fear God and obey Him, fear God and reflect His character — glorify God, for this is man’s all.

What gives meaning to life? God alone gives meaning to life. We live to give glory to His name. We must humble ourselves, obey Him, love Him, reflect His character. I Corinthians 10:31 tells us that whatever we do, right down to eating and drinking should be done for the glory of God, not pleasing self.

Everything we do is an act of worship. The only question is, Who are we worshiping? Are we worshiping God or are we worshiping self? Those are really the only choices we have. God or self, which will it be? It seems obvious that we should be worshiping God, and I believe we would all say that we want to worship God, but how many of us actually live in a way that says, “God is most important”? How many of us actually live day after day in a manner that truly glorifies God? I’m afraid the number is much smaller than it ought to be. Most people live a lonely, empty, meaningless existence because they don’t have God at the center of their life. Why? Could it be that many professing Christians don’t actually know God? If we don’t have a relationship with God, it is impossible to live with Him at the center of our life. Perhaps, even if we are saved, we don’t know God well enough, we don’t spend time in His Word, learning who He is, and talking with Him. We need to study the Bible, that isn’t just a job for the pastor. It is the privilege and responsibility of every Christian to study the Bible, apply it to life, and talk with God. We have been given a wonderful gift, we can have a relationship with Almighty God! Wow! We should joyfully accept this relationship, and live with Him at the center of our life, for the glory of God -That’s what we’re here for!