The Meaning of Life
What is the meaning of life? Can there be meaning to life apart from the designer of life!? I shared in the last devotional that our value and importance is tied to the one who created us. If our origin stemmed from natural processes, then we have no significance! If there is no significance then there is no purpose or meaning to life! Consequently, life would have no objective and stable meaning if there were no Creator. People would have to conjure up meaning and attempt to discover themselves in an empty and purposeless system!
The truth is that God, the designer, chooses and determines His purpose for His Creation. Apart from the Lord, we are confused trying to find meaning with our finite understanding and vision.
Here is a simple analogy to the meaning of life: If you were to place a two-year old in a car and tell them to figure out how to use it, you’ll find quickly that they are inadequate for the job. A two-year old, regardless of his level of intelligence, is incapable of understanding the purpose for the car or how to use it properly. They are too small to drive the vehicle and too short to see beyond the steering wheel. At first, a toddler may play with a few buttons or the steering wheel, but that is not the point of a car. After a two-year old does everything he can think of, he will probably be bored, frustrated, and restless. Regardless of his creativity and ingenuity, he cannot make any meaningful progress!
Similarly, apart from the Lord who is the Creator of life, we cannot figure out its meaning and our purpose in it. The Lord has designed us for himself. His attention has a settling effect in people’s lives. Knowing that God sees us, knows us, and made us with a purpose, helps to avoid restlessness. We are not here on happenstance, and we don’t have to invent ourselves.
What does the Bible say about meaning of life?
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10
The above scripture tells us that God provided the gift of salvation through His grace. This gift of salvation brings us back to the original intent of God. He has designed us to be in a loving relationship with God and others. He rescues us from being an orphan in a lonely world and adopts us as God’s beloved children. We get to have a personal and intimate relationship with Him and to love our Father and walk with Him.
As His new creation, we have a new nature that is created in Christ Jesus, and in the process of living and obeying, we become conformed into the image of His son. Furthermore, God has designed us with gifts and talents that we get to use as He directs us for the good works that He has prepared for us. We have value, significance, and meaning because God said so, and that’s good news. We can learn to live a life of contentment avoiding strife and frustration! The more we surrender to God’s plan, the greater level of peace and satisfaction we will experience in life.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay