THE MISSING INGREDIENT

Humans! Science would say we belong to a Family characterized by a complex brain, an erect posture, the ability to move with our two legs and the ability to use our hands effectively. Our complex brains enable us exhibit extreme forms of reasoning, problem solving, language and different cultures through learning and interacting with the society.

I ask myself who is a human being? Religion says we were created in the image and likeness of God – meaning we were made to resemble Him in every aspect. Who has moved to the highest of heights to visualize the nature of God seated on His throne?

The image of God sets man apart from the animal and fits us for the dominion He wants us to have over the earth. Our life on earth is a journey of the soul. The soul or spirit is the passenger being conveyed by the body – the vehicle and mind which steers the body at the helm of affairs. All three are intimately connected and cannot work in the absence of one.

What is our purpose on earth? A multi-million question that may take an entire lifetime and even some few seconds of the after life to answer. Well, the answer could be very simple – to glorify God! Someone would ask what it looks like to glorify God?  In lip service? Or in doing good to your fellow man? Or Do I live my life day and night, sturdily obeying the Ten Commandments? It’s something I am still trying to figure out.

Life begins when a sperm fertilizes an egg. A mechanism that starts the maze of life. We take anchor in the comfortable environment of our mother’s tummy – a land flowing with milk and honey where we simply have to roll and kick as we are fed with what we need for nourishment and growth.

After 9 months of intrauterine life, it’s expected of us to exit this congenial atmosphere and face the harsh conditions of life which we initially respond to by crying but the placenta would have given up on us already saying everything that has a beginning has an end.

Our nature moves according to the law of opposites. After day comes night, heat after cold, female after male and death after birth. Some have it the easy way right after birth; just live. They are born into affluent homes where silver spoons are glued to their mouths till they die. Others have to battle the acerbity of life till they give up. Which starts with the watery diarrheas and whooping coughs they get because they dwell in unhygienic places to the stings of scorpions and bites of snakes when they sleep on in the farms they work in. If all the money in the world cannot buy a meaningful life, what can deprivation teach us?

Again, I ask what is our purpose on earth? All other forms of creation have limitations except humans. A dog is born a dog and dies a dog either being stray or faithful to a master. Flowers would blossom, die out and new flowers blossom again. Grass will rise and fall and birds keep making the same nest for millions of years.

Meanwhile we humans have progressed from the primitive days of hunting with clubs, living in caves and eating raw meat to this new age of screens and life in the air. Although we have moved ahead at a full pace towards modernization, more and more people keep falling sick each day. Hospitals are choked with people suffering from benign conditions to engulfing malignant maladies. Could they be complications of modernization? Just a food for thought.

So what is wrong with our lives? Why are we out of sync with what the good Lord has for us. Is the purpose of life to pursue happiness through enjoying fine foods, rich clothes, music and entertainment or to while away time as we sleep when things are  still being discovered?

God does not want us to live in a ‘personal bubble’. He has great things planned for us. Because He knows our end from the beginning. The Bible is the story of everything. It is about how we personally have a specific purpose in this life.

We were created for a reason and free will was given to us as drivers of our destiny. Farmer, Lawyer or Doctor? One would ask concerning his growing child but have you ever taken the time to know what God has for this child?

God gave King Solomon great wealth and great wisdom. He found satisfaction in the things He tried but still wondered if there was more to life in his quiet and undisturbed moments of reflection. Are these physical and temporary things really why I was born?

The only way we can rise above this maze is to return to God and discover our original purpose because the good book says God tends for us to be like him. We have no idea as to what the future holds for us but we know we will be like God.

I know God is offering me a fulfilling future. He wants me to commune with Him on a daily basis, pray to Him about everything unceasingly and abide in His word as He remains the true vine and me, a branch. It is about being God’s child now while looking forward to the promised future.

I am going to stop seeking God with my own purpose and lie quietly in the boat as He moves me on the roaring seas. I would stop restricting myself to that ‘personal bubble’ and look for God with my whole heart for I know He stands at the back of the door of my heart knocking..waiting to enter however my corrupt nature and some personal decisions of mine keep pushing Him away. I would give up everything that keeps me away from the love of Christ and discover God’s purpose for me.

In the words of Amit Ray, “It does not matter how long you are spending on earth, how much money you have gathered or how much attention you have received. It is the amount of positive vibration you have radiated in life that matters.

 

Have a blessed week!

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