Ask a hundred people the meaning of life, and be prepared for a hundred different answers—each of them from a particular point of view. Several years ago, Life Magazine queried readers for its holiday issue, asking, “Why are we here?” Listen to some of the replies: Jose Martinez, a taxi driver, said, “We’re here to die, just live and die. I do some fishing, take my girl out, pay taxes, do a little reading, then get ready to drop dead. After you’re gone, other people will come. The only cure for the world’s illness is nuclear war—wipe everything out and start over.” Jason Gaes, a young cancer victim, saw it this way: “I think God made each of us for a different reason. If God gives you a great voice, maybe he wants you to sing. Or else, if God makes you seven feet tall, maybe he wants you to play for the Lakers or Celtics. I used to wonder why did God pick on me and give me cancer. Maybe it was because he wanted me to be a doctor who takes care of other kids with cancer.
Ordinary people answered. Famous people gave it a shot. Author and humorist Garrison Keillor offered this response: “To know and serve God, of course, is why we’re here, a clear truth that, like the nose on your face, is near at hand and easily discernible but can make you dizzy if you try and focus on it too hard. But a little faith will see you through.”
Jose observed life from the inside of a taxi cab. Jason saw it from the eyes of a child in a hospital cancer ward. Garrison Keillor’s perspective combines an evangelical, Midwestern upbringing with a keen sense of humor. Saint Augustine said that the chief end of man—the main reason we are here—is to love God, and to glorify Him forever. John’s vision of Heaven in Revelation bears that out. We who are His will love, glorify and serve Him forever...reigning with Him in the glory that was His before the world began. With that end in mind, then how should we live?
MEMORY VERSE
His bond-servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads (Revelation 22:3-4).
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE
Revelation 20-21