Living For A Cause

Living For a Cause

By Pastor Jim May

Someone once asked me if I knew all of the answers to life’s many questions? In a joking manner I answered, “Sure I know the answers. The problem I have is matching the right answer to the right question.” But as I think about it, I don’t know all the answers, but I know where to get them. I serve a Lord that knows the answer to every question before it arises. I serve a Living God who will create an answer to my problems and who will lead me into the paths where I can find that which I seek.

My problem is that I don’t always know what I’m really looking for.

Have you ever found yourself digging for something and right in the middle of your searching you stop and realize that you forgot what you are looking for?

I believe that there are a lot of people who have forgotten what they are really looking for. We are ever searching for something. We search for true love, but like the old country western song says, we are “looking for love in all the wrong places and in too many faces”. We search for peace, but this world has no real peace to offer. We search for happiness but it seems to elude us at every turn. We look for satisfaction but we find that nothing in this world really satisfies. We look for something that will give meaning to life but then go to bed every night wondering why we are here on this earth? Is there nothing more to life than just the daily grind of waking up, going to work, coming home, watching TV, and then sleeping?

What we have to realize is that life has no real meaning until we are committed to a cause, and that cause must be worth the price of our commitment.

What cause do you have this morning? Is there something larger than life; more important to you life itself? Is there something inside of you that is driving you onward, forcing you to do things that are uncomfortable, and somehow changing you into a better person?

Some people are committed to the cause of freedom and liberty. Those are noteworthy causes and they give meaning to life. The real test is this. Do freedom and liberty pay off in the end, and if so what dividends do they pay?

True enough, most of our national heroes are men and women who have been committed to the cause of freedom and liberty.

I hope that our teachers and schools never let us forget those who have paid the price that we can be free today. I am reminded of Patrick Henry during the American Revolution.

On March 23, 1775, as he stood before the Virginia Legislature, he proclaimed his belief in the cause of freedom, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

The cause of freedom pays dividends in the fact that we are a free nation today. If someone hadn’t taken that cause and paid the price we might all be speaking German or Japanese today. God intends for all men to be free and equal. Our nation is founded upon those principles and the cause of freedom and equality will give your life meaning.

Some people make their family, children and spouse, their reason for living. This too can be a great cause. Most of us would gladly spend our lives providing for and caring for those we love.

Some years ago I did something for one of my children that wasn’t the easiest thing for me to do. After it was finished someone said to me, “I wouldn’t do that for my kid.” I answered, “Well, I wouldn’t do for your kids either, but I will do it for mine.” It’s easy to pass judgment on someone else when you aren’t committed to their cause.

Is the price of commitment to your family worth the dividends in the end? For many of us that answer would be “yes”. Our children become successful, law abiding citizens. In spite of all the troubles, the failures and the hard times, they will make us proud. But that isn’t always the case is it? Sometimes all of the love, care and investment we make into our families just doesn’t seem to pay off. None of us have a promise that our kids will be model citizens. Sometimes they just decide to be outlaws and heart-breakers.

Someone once said, “When your kids are small they step on your toes, but when they grow older they step on your heart”.