Living With Purpose

LIVING WITH PURPOSE

   We are born into this world dependent upon our parents' love, protection, and care. As we grow and mature, we gain confidence, speak the language, and learn to become independent in our abilities to succeed and move forward. We, as did our parents, go to School, and prepare to fit into society as a working contributor in our community in a job that suits our skills, a position we are attracted to. As we move forward in life, as did our parents, we become doctors, teachers, builders, and computer technicians, or we marry and become parents as our parents did.

   Watching our lives develop as we continue to grow and mature is gratifying indeed, such as watching our children grow and develop as we nurture them along the way. Our future looks bright, and we are proud of how we accept our challenges and opportunities in life.

   However, life and our future will have many twists and turns that we are never prepared for, such as the passing of grandparents, or even the sudden death of a parent. For others, we lose a child through accidental death that we had no control over. Sadness and heartbreak we realize, are in the future for all of us at some time or another. We repeat the cycle of life.

   All that one can do is pick up the pieces, move forward, try to appreciate what we have, and hope that our future is enough, our position, and the security that we have attained keep us grounded. Although we realize that death is a part of life, we often see our time to depart this world as sometime in the very distant future.

   As time passes, we look forward to that vacation we have been planning, seeing relatives, and friends. We enjoy the purchase of a new car and new furniture, and somehow, we feel secure in our comfortable present surroundings.

   Reflecting on our life, and how far we have come, what do we see that has been our purpose and the legacy we each will leave behind? While we are still young, energetic, and healthy, it is good to understand that our Creator made us with purpose in mind. By His own example, He has taught us to teach for sharing, to forgive with love and mercy, and most of all to live an entire life that is dedicated toward living as we believe God intended. Each of us must and will face death at some age, many at a younger age. This is exactly why we cannot wait until old age, or sickness to creep in to tell us we are working our way toward the end of life. There is no way to make up for lost time in that situation.

   We are called by God to live each day as though we were in the presence of God, for we truly are in the presence of God and we all will be judged according to how we lived our lives, the choices we made, and how we loved our neighbor.