One of the most fundamental needs for any human is to find a purpose for their lives. We often look for that purpose from things or people around us – from our loved ones, a job, by starting a family or by doing good deeds, or by trying to make ourselves more knowledgable. But none of these things can fully satisfy us, or answer the questions deep within us.
To find the meaning of life and purpose for our individual lives we need to go back to square one: we were all created to have a relationship with God. For as long as we live apart from God, we are missing something that is most essential. The most important goal for our lives should be to live how we were created to live – in a relationship with God, without sin separating us from Him. That is why getting to know Jesus is what is most important and essential, because it is only through Him we can have a life and a purpose. When we believe in Him we will one day be able to go to Heaven to be with our Heavenly Father.
Even though we fix our eyes on Heaven, it does not mean that our life on earth is meaningless. We have the privilege to live being loved by God, loving Him and spreading His love all around us.
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 3:14, ESV)
Lord God, when my understanding fails, show me the way to go.
Take a moment to consider the computer, phone or device that you are using to read these words. Would you believe if someone told you that that device came into being by chance? That all the right parts just happened to come together on their own? Naturally, you know that someone has planned, designed and made that device for a specific function.
What about the rest of the world, and life in general? The world is undoubtedly so much more complex and vast than any technical device. Just think alone how incredible and awe-inspiring our human bodies are. It takes more than chance or coincidence to have something so amazing.
On the other hand, the world can seem like a chaotic and cruel place to live in. But the fact remains – it is our Lord, God the Father, who has created the world.
All of us and the world around us exist because God so ordained. He created the world and made everything function for a purpose. Nothing is a coincidence, but carefully and wonderfully created, taking into account even the smallest of details. No one’s life is a coincidence, or an accident. You exist because God wanted you to exist. Your life is the result of careful planning and the greatest love there is.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. – – Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. – – God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
(1. Gen. 1:1, 26-27, 31, ESV).
Dear God, open my eyes to see the gift of life you have given me. Help me to ever praise you with all my heart.
The majority of people believe that there is some kind of a god, or some higher power - that the world originates from someone, that someone has instilled into people the concepts of right and wrong, and has guided events in history. Even an atheist has some kind of a principle, ‘a god’, they rely on and hold as a higher authority.
A hunch, an opinion or a conviction about God’s existence does not tell us anything about who He is, what He is like, and how we can get to know Him. In order to find out about God we should turn to Him and to His Word, the Bible. God is great and incomprehensible to our sinful, human minds and hence we need to trust Him to show us Himself. God created the world and is in control of it. But more so, God came down to earth in human form in Jesus and has saved us from our sins. There is no other God.
Lord God, I pray that you would become real in my life. I ask that you would hear and answer my prayers.
When we see evil and suffering around us – possibly even in our own lives – we might start doubting if God really is an almighty, loving God. But during those times too we can rely on the Word of God, which is more reliable than our limited minds.
The Bible says God is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings who rules the entire world. He sees everything, and knows everything, and nothing happens without His permission. Because of the Fall of Man, however, the devil has got a foothold in the world, but even he cannot do anything that God does not allow. Satan has already lost; he is powerless against God’s power. By dying on the cross and being raised to life, Jesus defeated the devil and the evil forces.
It is often difficult for us to understand God’s intentions, and why sometimes things turn out the way they do, but we can always trust that He is the one pulling the strings. The Almighty God sees the bigger picture, and hence knows what is best for us. God, who created the world by simply speaking it out loud, is capable of taking care of us. One day the whole world will see the greatness of our God.
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
(Isaiah 40:28, ESV)
Lord, You have all the power. Help me to find my security and hope in You.
To be exact, a person cannot find God, but it is God who searches out and finds a person. God lives high above where man cannot go, but He has come, and does come close to us to find us. God reveals Himself through sacraments: the Word of God (The Bible), Baptism, Holy Communion and in Confession of sins and Absolution. Therefore, we should seek Him through these.
If you have been baptised, it is good to remind yourself what it means. The Apostolic Confession of Faith and the Catechism are good places to start and to keep referring to. Even if you haven’t been baptised, it is still good to start there.
I also encourage you to read the Bible. Start reading from the New Testament and specifically, the Gospels.
Find a church where you can take part in the Sunday service. During a service, you can, together with the rest of the congregation (the fellowship of believers), confess and receive forgiveness from your sins, and to hear teachings from the Bible. By taking communion we get closer to God; God meets us in the bread and wine - the bread being the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ.
I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
(Ezekiel 34:16, ESV)
Lord God, I want to find You and know You. Help me find my way to You.