“What in the World Are We Here For?”
January 22, 2007
“The author: Solomon of Jerusalem, King David’s son, "The Preacher."
In my opinion, nothing is worthwhile; everything is futile. For what does a man get for all his hard work? Generations come and go, but it makes no difference. The sun rises and sets and hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south and north, here and there, twisting back and forth, getting nowhere. The rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full, and the water returns again to the rivers and flows again to the sea . . . everything is unutterably weary and tiresome. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied; no matter how much we hear, we are not content. History merely repeats itself. Nothing is truly new; it has all been done or said before. What can you point to that is new? How do you know it didn’t exist long ages ago? We don’t remember what happened in those former times, and in the future generations no one will remember what we have done back here.” Eccl 1:1-8 (Living)
Solomon seemed a little discouraged. He was the riches man alive. He was the most powerful man alive. He had hundreds of wives and concubines that fulfilled his every sexual fantasy. He was the world’s wisest man. He probably accomplished more than anyone else of his day. And yet he seems so lost. He seemed to be continually searching for his purpose in life. I think one of his problems was that he did too much thinking. I try not to over do that intellectual stuff. Some things just don’t make sense. You just have to accept it. You’ll go crazy trying to make sense out of stuff. Let me give you some examples of stuff you don’t want to think too hard on.
Does the reverse side also have a reverse side?
Why is the alphabet in that order?
Why is a carrot more orange than an orange?
How come abbreviated is such a long word?
Why are there 5 syllables in the word "monosyllabic"?
Why do scientists call it "re"search when looking for something new?
Why do banks charge you a "non-sufficient funds fee" on money they already know you don’t have?
Why are they called apart-ments, when they’re all stuck together?
There are a lot of things that don’t make sense to me. But I do know this. We were created for a purpose. Thankfully Solomon came to realize that. He concluded Ecclesiastes with this:
“Here is my final conclusion: fear God and obey his commandments, for this is the entire duty of man.” Eccl 12:13 (Living)
I guess you can boil everything down to that one statement. “Fear God and Obey Him.” “Fear and Obey”. I don’t know about you – but I need a little bit more than that. God makes His will for our lives even more clear. Rick Warren says that we have a purpose for our lives. In fact, there are five purposes. Do you remember what they are?
1. You were planned for God pleasure; you were created to Love God and to know Him
2. You were formed for God’s family; you were created to learn to love others.
3. You were created to become like Christ; you are being transformed into His image
4. You were shaped for serving God. You were created for ministry.
5. You were made for a mission. We have a mission.
Our lives need to have this focus. I remind myself of Colossians 3:1 & 2 throughout the week. To paraphrase, it says we are to have our hearts and minds on heavenly things. I don’t know about you, but so often I focus on worldly things and fleshly things. But the world and the flesh are very temporal – it is very temporary. It is all going to quickly pass away. And we need to always keep in mind what we are here for. The world is to teach us. This life is meant for us to have opportunity to choose between self or God; heaven or hell; life or death. Jesus said,
"But when I, the Messiah, shall come in my glory, and all the angels with me, then I shall sit upon my throne of glory. And all the nations shall be gathered before me. And I will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and place the sheep at my right hand, and the goats at my left.
"Then I, the King, shall say to those at my right, ’Come, blessed of my Father, into the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world.” Matt 25:31-34 (Living)
“Then I will turn to those on my left and say, ’Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.” Matt 25:41 (Living)
Do you see that this life is a proving ground? God desires that all of us be saved and spend eternity with Him. But most won’t. Why not? Because they choose their will and the things of this life over Him. And come the last day – there are only going to be two groups – goats and sheep. Obedient and disobedient. Believers and non-believers. Faithful and the faithless. Which group are you going to choose to be in?
If you want to be in that first group – let me give you five suggestions of things you can work on in your life.
First of all, you need to be a worshipper. Do you know what that means? To me it is, first of all, becoming aware of God in our lives and world. He is, you know. Every breath we take; every tick of our heart is a miracle of God. When I look around me and become aware of the magnificent creation I live in and really appreciate, to the best of my ability, the intricate design, the unfathomable intelligence that created it, I am awed. It almost takes my breath away sometimes. When I see God working in my life, interested in the common little problems and irritations that are so insignificant to most by important to me – I am so humbled and grateful. Worship begins with being aware of God in your life.
I think you have to do this on purpose. You have to quiet your life and choose to be still and think and meditate on these things. And then worship can begin. Worship is simply appreciating God. It is thanking Him. It is expressing love to Him. Sometimes I break out in song – right there in the car or on my walk in the mountains. Sunday morning, in what we call worship service, when I sing songs and worship choruses, sometimes I am almost overwhelmed with love for my God and Savior. When I realize that He actually loves me – that I am important to Him – it touches me and I truly worship Him in my spirit. It’s real. It’s true. And that’s how Jesus said we are to worship. In spirit and in truth. How are you doing at worshiping God? Are you a worshipper - or do you take Him for granted? We need to primarily be worshippers.
Secondly, we need to be students. We need to be seekers of God and His ways. God said,
“You will find me when you seek me, if you look for me in earnest.” Jer 29:13 (Living)
"… you will find him when you search for him with all your heart and soul.”” Deut 4:29 (Living)
“But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matt 6:33 (KJV)
When we come into this world our knowledge is zero – zip. And as babies we begin to learn. Have you ever seen a baby discover his hand or foot? Have you ever seen a baby discover he can make sounds? All our lives we are in a process of learning. When we come to Christ, most of us have had a little bit of education from our parents taking us to Sunday school. Some are even fortunate to have attended a Christian school. But all of us need to discover God for ourselves. We need to make Jesus our personal Savior. I don’t care how spiritual your mom or dad or grandparents were. Someone with little education but much wisdom said, “God ain’t got no grandchildren.” And He doesn’t. He only has children. You can’t come in on your parent’s relationship. You have to seek and find Jesus for yourself. And then, all our lives we need to be seeking His will. We need to be learning more and more about Him. And He will help us. Jesus said,
“But when the Father sends the Comforter instead of me --and by the Comforter I mean the Holy Spirit--he will teach you much, as well as remind you of everything I myself have told you.”
John 14:26 (Living)
Every Christian ought to be in a small study group each week. It may be Sunday school or a home bible study – but you need to gather with others to seek for God’s truth. Of course you need to daily seek God in private devotions – but that is not enough. One can get off. You can take one concept and convince yourself of some wrong idea. But when you study with others each will act as a help to keep centered toward the truth. Kind of like a gyroscope.
If your life is to have the meaning God means for it to have – you need to be a seeker.
Third, you need to ‘belong’. You are a part of a wonderful family when you accept Christ. You are adopted into God’s family and you suddenly have many brothers and sisters. You need to recognize that and accept it and choose it. There is strength in the family. There is encouragement in the family. There are opportunities in the family. Satan knows that. So what is one of his favorite tactics? He tries to separate the immature lamb from the flock where he or she is vulnerable.
Jesus, and the people of His day, were well aware of wolves and sheep and how that all worked. And Jesus used them to illustrate the truth of belonging. He called false preachers ‘wolves’. He called His followers – “sheep”. Sheep are defenseless. The have no offensive weapons. They rely on the shepherd and the sheep dogs and being a part of the flock for protection. We need to learn that lesson and choose to belong. God will never tell you that you are a “lone wolf” or the “lone ranger” or an “island in the sea of humanity”. God wants you to accept the fact that you belong and accept all that goes with it.
Fourth, we are to be witnesses. In Jesus’ first sermon, He said,
"You are the world’s seasoning, to make it tolerable. If you lose your flavor, what will happen to the world? And you yourselves will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the world’s light--a city on a hill, glowing in the night for all to see. Don’t hide your light! Let it shine for all; let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father.”
Matt 5:13-15 (Living)
In Jesus’ first sermon we are told we are to be like a light – shining in this dark world. He says we bring praise to God in this way. And in the last words He spoke before ascending to heaven, He said,
“…go and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” Matt 28:19 (Living)
Do you think maybe we ought to share our faith a little more? Paul wrote:
“You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of people who are crooked and stubborn. Shine out among them like beacon lights.” Phil 2:15 (Living)
One of the reasons you are here is to tell others about Jesus. You are to show them what Jesus can do in a life. You are to be a living example of grace. As you allow God to change your life – you bring Him glory. When you fail and fall – you give the enemy ammunition that “this religious stuff doesn’t work!” Let’s shine as lights. That is what we are called to do.
Lastly, we are called to minister to the lost. Do you know how much God loves them? Imagine if you had children that were lost or hurting – imagine how you would want someone to help them. God wants us to be His hands and His voice. We are to be His ministers – every one of us. Jesus said,
“For I was hungry and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me water; I was a stranger and you invited me into your homes; naked and you clothed me; sick and in prison, and you visited me.’
"Then these righteous ones will reply, ’Sir, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you anything to drink? Or a stranger, and help you? Or naked, and clothe you? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ "And I, the King, will tell them, ’When you did it to these my brothers, you were doing it to me!’” Matt 25:35-40 (Living)
Each one of us has been given gifts to help. Each of us is different with a different combination of gifts – so everyone is irreplaceable. We are inimitable. No one can do your job. No one can relate to the ones you can. Be an extension of Jesus’ heart to those around you.
You are to be a worshipper; a student; part of a family, a witness and a minister to the lost. Let’s be about the Father’s business this week.
Jesus,
Help me to worship and love you better than I ever have before. Help me to seek you with all my heart and get to know you better. Help be to accept my role in this church family. Give me wisdom and strength to witness for you. Minister through my life.
In Jesus name.
