Church of God in Christ, Mennonite

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11

WHAT IS YOUR REASON FOR LIVING?

What is your reason for living? What drives you? What is the prevailing thread that runs through your thoughts? Do you live in the past? Do you find yourself living and existing for a brighter future day? Do you live for the moment or for the fun and pleasure that the moment can bring? Do you live for the excitement of travel, adventure, and/or social life? Maybe you live for your business, farm, or future occupational training. Perhaps you live for the approval you can get from those around you. Possibly you are consumed by living up to your own standards of integrity and righteousness.
There are millions who live for financial success or for the recognition that comes from high achievement in a certain field. Motivational quotes and posters hang on the walls of their offices and in their homes. They carry themselves with poise and confidence. They possess admirable self-discipline, and they seem happy. Many, many people’s primary motivation in life is to be included on that list of those who have “made it.”
Friend, if you live for any of the above, there will be many times when you will drag heavy chains of worry. If you are consumed by the future, you will be prone to anxiety. If you wallow in the past, you will live under a suffocating burden of guilt and shame. If you live for the acceptance and approval of others, you will endure the constant discomfort of self-awareness. If you live for your possessions or future dreams, you are liable to suffer pains of disappointment and disillusionment. If your energies are focused on living perfectly, you will often bear the great weight of weariness and frustrations of not achieving the unattainable. Your life’s graph will probably be an erratic pattern of highs and lows.
Beyond your honor-bound duties, what motivates you to rise each morning to proceed with life? It would appear that we are created in a way that we must have something to drive us and inspire us. Were we not created this way for a reason? Did not God create us with the longing because He longs for us? Is not this inherent need to have something to live for part of God’s plan for us? Did He not make us with this need for the specific purpose of drawing us to Himself?
Friend, surely the secret is to live for our Redeemer. Surely the secret is to live in His infinite love and forgiveness. Can we get a glimpse of His eternal love? Can we catch a vision of what He has done and is doing for us? Can we serve Him out of adoration, as well as duty? When we come to Him, it will fill the ache in our hearts and in His. May we come to the Great Physician with our great need. Surely He holds the key to true peace and fulfillment. If our reason for living is anchored in Him, we will be satisfied. If we can drop our handful of selfish motivations because we want to know Him, we will be free to grasp the real reason for living, our Savior’s hand. With our hand in His and our eye on the eternal goal, we can make it.

From Messenger of Truth, Vol. 113, No. 07, April 1, 2015