The Goal of Life

In soccer, if you start kicking the ball the wrong way, things may seem like they are going really well. I've seen this myself as a coach of a soccer team made up of three-year-old children. When you get going the wrong way, the defense gets out of your way. You seem to have it made, an easy goal! Except, it's the wrong goal. 

Jesus says the same thing about life. "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." (Luke 9:24) This means that if you live for yourself, you will ultimately fail in life. Even if you seem to succeed for a time, you will fail. The Bible gives many examples of this, including King Belshazzar in Daniel 5. He was the most powerful and wealthy person in the whole world. Everything seemed to be working according to his plan. But in one night everything he worked for was gone, and he was put to death by the Persians. This is the inevitable outcome if everything you are living for has to do with gaining the things of this world for yourself.

The Bible says our goal must be to please God (2 Corinthians 5:9). When you live for God, you are living for something with eternal value. No matter what happens in this life, you are setting yourself up for true success. The way we live for God is to study, understand, and live out the commands he gives us in the Bible (Joshua 1:8).

When you live God's way, life will get easier. Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest," (Matthew 11:28).

At the same time, Jesus says, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23).

That sounds hard! How can life get easier when you follow Jesus, and yet it is hard to follow Jesus? The chart below aims to make sense of this. If you live for yourself, you make easy decisions. Do whatever "feels right!" However, over time, this will make life get harder. Proverbs 13:15 says "the way of transgressors is hard." 

Making decisions that put God and his law first in your life can be difficult at the time, but they lead to life getting easier. When you face temptation to go the "easy" and selfish direction, remember 1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

Ultimately, our thinking controls our decisions, and our thinking flow from the heart. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it everything you do flows from it."

Look at the chart below. The passages on the chart are all in this post, with the references underlined so that you can find them easily. The top verse is 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

This chart is a biblical guide to decision making, and it applies to all areas of life. For example, when you cannot get along with your spouse, divorce may seem like a solution to help your life get back on track. But many people who go through a divorce and all the pain and complications that go with it, often realize later that it would have been easier to make the hard choices earlier and work harder to improve their marriage, as God's law says. 

However, the most important thing is not any one particular issue. The key is the goal of life. Are you heading in the right direction? Are you living to glorify God? Nothing else will bring success.

"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." -Joshua 1:8

Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. You can listen to previous programs online here: http://www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html