The Bible tells us that God created man and
clearly implies that all the rest of the material creation
of earth was for his benefit and for his use. But what
purpose had God in creating man? Did God make him simply
to gratify a desire to make something new? Is his
existence the result of some mere whim? When God created
him, did he expect to give him no farther attention? The
Bible tells us plainly that God had a distinct purpose,
and that his creation was for God's own purpose, not
simply that man might exist. Speaking of man, he says,
"The work of my hands, that I may be glorified"
(Isaiah 60:21). Again, he says, "For I have created
him for my glory" (Isaiah 43:7).
That man was endowed with natural faculties that make
it possible for him to know God and to communicate with
him, to understand his will, and to obey him, and to find
his highest pleasure in all these, shows that the purpose
of man's life is something very exalted. It is possible
for him to debase his powers, to put them to ignoble
purposes, and to fail entirely of the true purpose of his
life. He may develop his physical being and bring it to a
high state of perfection, so that he is an athlete. He may
be in perfect health. He may conform to the law of his
physical being and be worthy of the admiration of his
fellows. He may develop his mind until he reaches out into
the starry heavens and reads the secrets of the planets.
He may delve into philosophy and into science until his
mental faculties are enriched and highly developed. He may
grapple with the great problems of life and solve them. He
may fill the chair of some great university. Men may
marvel at his learning. He may be eloquent until he can
sway the multitudes. He may rise to eminence in the
political world and be famous. Men may admire and respect
and honor him, but the perfect body and the highly
developed mind, or these two united, do not make a perfect
man.
Sooner or later disease will seize upon that body.
Sooner or later that mind will lose its brilliance and its
power. The end is but the grave. What then? Shall we say
that a man who has lived only for his body and for his
mind has truly lived , has truly fulfilled the purpose of
his creation? Not so. He has omitted from his life that
which is highest and best. He has failed to develop that
spiritual element which is his real self, that element
which will live on forever. He has starved and neglected
it, and it has withered away, overshadowed by the other
parts of his being. If a man forgets his soul, if he makes
no preparation for the life that is life indeed, there is
no symmetry in his life. It is unbalanced and incomplete.
No matter what his success in other lines, his life is a
failure. No matter how much wealth he may amass, how much
he may win, nor how much of anything of earth may be his,
it must end with the word "failure," for he has
not lived for God. He was created for God's glory, but how
much has his life sub served that glory? Has he honored
God? Has he served him? Has he fitted himself for his
society in the world to come? The man who fails to develop
his mind and then is brought into the society of men of
learning feels at once and feels most keenly how he has
neglected himself and how hampered he is in his
associations with them, how unfit he is to enjoy their
society, and how little such society can really mean to
him. So the man who neglects his spiritual life, when he
shall come into the presence of God will find himself
wholly unfit to mingle in the society of heaven. His
soul-faculties will not be able to respond to the
influences of that place. In fact, it would be torment to
him to b e there and constantly feel his unfitness. There
is but one true purpose in life. All other things are
subsidiary to it. If we fill our life with trifles, with
things that amount to nothing, shall we not reap the
trifler's reward? God desires our services. He desires
union with us. He desires to be honored and worshiped by
us - not simply for some selfish interest; for when we
give to him that which belongs to him, we do for ourselves
that which is best and highest. And when w e refuse to
give him that which belongs to him and that which he has a
right to expect of us, we are injuring ourselves and are
placing barriers before our own souls. We are destroying
our own selves.
Reader, what is the purpose of your life? What is your
life amounting to? Are you spending it for God? Are you
developing your soul, your spiritual faculties and powers?
What will your life profit you if you are not? Shall you
endure the things of this life, its cares, its sorrows,
its heartaches, toil on till its end, only to have
"Failure" written over it at the last? Be wise.
God has given you intelligence. Use it for his glory.
Neglect not your soul, that priceless treasure which must
somewhere spend eternity, the eternity for which you are
now preparing it.
