—Thomas Chalmers
Living is an action. That means it's more than just not being dead. But that does not mean that the act of living is to always be in motion. The act of inaction is itself an act. The first question of the Westminster Catechism is, "What is the chief end of man?" The answer of course is, "To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." This is not an act we can achieve in a day, rather it is a long process over time, even after the occasion of our deaths. It is a journey to learn how to glorify God. We do not want to all the time, our hearts are sinful and our desires selfish. The journey takes us through repentance before we come to the place where we are able to glorify God, and repentance itself can be a long hard road. One encouraging thing is that the answer the Westminster Catechism gives—which is truly in line with Scripture—is full of intentionality and purpose. From the time in Genesis 2 that it was said that Adam "became a living creature" until his dying day, Adam knew his purpose in life. Likewise, we too are not left to wonder, "What is our purpose in life?" We have our purpose, clearly stated and marked out for us. To be sure this purpose will look a bit different from person to person depending on calling, giftings, time, and place, but we all have a common goal, "To glorify God and to enjoy him forever". Within this goal there is both the surety of individual calling and the security of corporate calling. Thus the act of living is the act of being in community with intentionality. Or to paraphrase Chalmers, our duty in living is to recall the lessons of the past and stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before so that we may be better informed, better prepared to strive along side our fellow laborers towards a future work, so that in the end we may have done all we can do for the Kingdom. It is a good end, it is a worthy purpose, this act of living.
No comments:
Post a Comment