What is your purpose in life? The question is quite simple if you are a born-again believer, it is not your family or your job, it has absolutely nothing to do with anything connected to this world, it is to glorify God. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” (Eccl. 12:13)
All your emotional attachments will come to one inevitable conclusion if they are rooted only in the materialistic, in the world, they will all fade away, as in the end will you own life, you will be the last attachment you will lose. Family members will die, friends, pets, everything you own will rust and rot, and then you also will cease to exist, you will die. Those who cannot comprehend the wisdom in these words call this type of thought process, these contemplations, a defeatist mentality, but they are nothing less than the truth, a truth that many in both the lost and saved community refuse to face. Deep inside they know them to be the absolute, undeniable, verifiable truth, but it is the acknowledgement of these truths that they fear to face.
What possible good does it do to place any emotional attachment to that which will fade away, what benefit is there to adhering to anything that is not eternal. There is of course emotional stability to consider, for those who have not determined to be crucified with Christ still need, as it were, to be coddled, to be met with much patience, sadly for many who claim Him as Lord the perfect love He offers (1 John 4:18) has not cast away all their fears, even though He has promised that “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” (Isaiah 26:3) There is still an attachment to those things that should not be, and the kingdom of God is sought only in times of need.
These are those who have memorized Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths,” but are unable to bring themselves to actually believe it, to put it into practice each and every day of their lives. Why do you think we are called little children so often in the Scriptures, because that is where our faith usually rests, because the most simple words are seen by us as some great revelation, because “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you,” (Matt. 6:33) entails the ability to receive all the blessings of the Lord with just the most minor of tasks, just by seeking, and yet we continue to place our hopes elsewhere, we continue to struggle with the simple day to day routines, we respond incorrectly to circumstances and fear the possible consequences, we have forgotten how to be still and know that He is God.
We have one responsibility as children of the Most High, to glorify Him, all else is a subset of this, forsake not the assembling, (Heb. 10:25) go into all the world, (Matt. 28:19) study to show yourself approved, (2 Tim. 2:15) all these are subsets of the one first matter that is always to be applied in our lives, glorify the name of Jesus Christ, exalt the name of Almighty God above the heavens. Circumstances should mean nothing, the possible consequences should hold no value whatsoever, “Thy will be done” should be the response in every instance if your desire is to be Christlike, to be made into the image of the Son of God, you have no other option available to you, the alternative is to be considered unprofitable, (Luke 17:10) the alternative is not being called the friend of Christ, (John 15:14) it is to receive no rewards, it is to have no treasures waiting, it is the inconceivable truth that you will not hear from your Lord and Master, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
The majority of the Christian community has fallen into the trap of Satan, we have allowed into the halls of worship the wicked, in hopes that they will repent, when they are not to be there. “These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.” (Jude 1:12) We have allowed the unrepentant brother to continue to attend, when the Word is clear, “let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican,” (Matt. 18:17) we have renamed the lost “carnal Christians,” we have defiled the places of worship with entertainment, with traditions, with self-serving, self-centered prayers, we have made the Most Holy as one of us, we have lost the fear of the Lord.
Those who will not reverence the Lord Jesus Christ will be forced to, every knee will bow, (Phil. 2:10) all things were made by Him and through Him, (John 1:3) all will give glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. No excuses will be accepted, no rebuttal will be tolerated, God will be glorified by all whether they want to or not.
“Ye shall know them by their fruits.” (Matt. 7:16) If I am commanded to write this verse in every single letter to you, that is what I will do, there is no other way to prove your salvation, your actions, your words, your lack of fear, the amount that you glorify the Lord God in front of others is how we are known, it is how we have been set apart. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor. 1:18) “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” (1 Cor. 1:21)
If you are not standing strong in your faith in Christ, if you are not boldly proclaiming His name at every opportunity, if you are not giving Him the glory for everything that comes into your life, then either you are not saved or you are ashamed of Him, there are no other alternatives.
You have been commanded to fear no man, (Matt. 10:28) you have been told you can cast mountains into the sea, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself said you would do greater works than He did, (John 14:12) if you are saved you have the Holy Spirit of God Almighty Himself within you, so what are you doing with all these truths? There are consequences for our actions, I may have just been asked to write what may be the most important contemplations you will ever have to face.
To set on fire in a man’s heart the desire to give completely of himself for Christ is the desire of the Lord, we have been given the ability to quench that fire.
