Joe's Journal
In the comic strip, "Calvin and Hobbes", Calvin is in school when the teacher asks the class if there are any questions. Calvin raises his hand and says, "What is the point of human existence?" The teacher replies, "I meant any questions about the subject at hand," to which Calvin replies, "Frankly, I'd like to have the issues resolved before expending any more energy on this.
Calvin was right. If we don't have the answer to the purpose question, what's the point of anything else?
To me, life apart from God is absolute abusrdity. If God does not exist, then we are doomed to death. Sartre observed, "Several hours or several years make no difference once you have lost eternity."
If God does not exist then there is no ultimate purpose of life. We are no more important than a swarm of gnats or a penfull of pigs, if God does not exist. Sacrifice, honor, integrity, achievement, and love are all meaningless if God does not exist.
If life ends at the grave, then it makes no difference how we live. Billy Graham and Joseph Stalin will both end up the same.
Distoyevsky said, "If there is no immorality, then all things are permitted." This may seem like a dark subject, but the reality of a universe without God is no hope or purpose, and Calvin is correct, without purpose, what's the point?
However, our testimony is, God does exist. Life does not end at the grave. Since there is a God and His son provides a way for us to spend eternity with Him, life is meaningful, valuable, and purposeful. Because of this we can live consistently and happily.
The life we live and the choices we make are filled with eternal meaning. Novelist Charles Reade once observed: "Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit, and you reap a character. Sow a character, and you reap a destiny." Because God exists and Jesus provides eternal life, the acts and choices we choose make a difference. Everyday we should wake up to another day of walking with Him, determined that today the acts I perform, the habits I develop, the character I display, and the destiny I inherit will honor the one who created me, loves me, redeems me and has one purpose!
