"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"
Jeremiah 29:11
For many
people in the world, real meaning in life is the next vacation, career success,
or stepping up the income ladder. It is a life based on pleasurable
experiences. Many a human being has toiled their whole life to gain a
pleasurable lifestyle only to find a life that is empty and meaningless. You
only have to watch television for one evening to discover that advertisers want
us to believe this is the goal of life. The work-to-play theme is consistent
with most advertising messages.
Solomon
was a man who had nothing withheld from his appetite. He was a great builder, a
great businessman, and a great lover of women. Every imaginable pleasure was
his. Nevertheless, he was to discover that these things alone could not satisfy
the human soul.
A recent
trip to a beautiful island left me grateful that God had allowed me to understand
the futile trap of the work-to-play lifestyle. It is great to experience times
of refreshing and visit beautiful places as long as we don't fall into the trap
of thinking that these experiences equal a meaningful life. God's beautiful
creation can so easily become a prison of emptiness if Jesus is not in the
center of it. The apostle Paul said there is only one way to find meaning and
purpose in life:
"I
keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may
give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you
may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious
inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who
believe..."(Ephesians 1:17-19).
Knowing
Christ brings the only real meaning and purpose to the human soul. Spend time
today getting to know the Lord in a more intimate way. Then you will discover
real meaning and purpose in life.
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