“A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest.” 

John 10:10 (CEV)

We are all born into this world without a choice. We have no control over when and where we are born, who our parents will be, which culture we will be associated with, and so forth. We are born without choosing our families’ social belonging or religious affiliation. Some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouths, and some are born in the midst of poverty, war, famine and conflict. Some people resent their life circumstances and blame their upbringing [or lack thereof] and inability to prepare for their future. 

But life itself is a great gift. It is an unwritten privilege to live one life. Life is handed to us, and it is up to us to do what we want. We all have one life, a life filled with choices. These choices, whether big or small, shape the rest of our lives and our future. Many times, we make important life decisions that we cannot undo. Some lives are short, and some are long. Regardless of the length of our lifespan, we still choose what we want to do with that solitary life.

What we do with our lives is our gift back to God, our Creator and Maker.

That single life we have, either short or long, regardless of the circumstances of our birth, is a wonderful gift from God. What we do with our lives is our gift back to God, our Creator and Maker. It is as if God gave us a blank canvas with all the paint colours, and our goal is to paint something for God in our lifetime. Some would have limitations on what painting they can make due to circumstances, but God can only expect us to paint our lives with the tools He gave us.

We are all born with the choice to do good or evil. We can choose to be greedy, selfish, or arrogant and seek fame, power, and wealth. Or we can choose to live for God and for others – living a life of sacrifice, love, generosity, and self-giving. Many of us live somewhere in between the two options.

Are we missing the bigger picture?

But we are still missing the bigger picture. Our Creator did not create us to live to be 80 or more years old. In this life, God is calling us to friendship – to be with Him forever. It is a golden opportunity to extend our lives beyond imagination and expectations. God plans to share His very life with all those who choose to accept His offer of friendship.

It is sad, but it is true – many people waste their lives looking only at what they can do in their earthly lifetime. They amass fortune, fame, and accolades, but their lives can be filled with ruin – dishonesty, deceit, broken relationships, anger, resentment, etc. They painted their canvas or lives with superficial paint, the ones that cannot last the test of time. Some people seek only the next thrill, the next excitement, as if life itself was meant to be lived that way. Some people live without thinking about where they are going when they are old and weary. They live to survive day by day and have no long-term awareness of where they are going with their lives.

Our life goal

Our life goal is meant to be to seek our Creator and understand His plan and purpose for our being. What do we live for in the first place? God has provided a means for us to seek eternal friendship in spite of our sinfulness – through Jesus Christ. God is calling a people for Himself – those who repent, follow His Son Jesus and live in the power of the Holy Spirit. God wants to share His goodness and very nature with all who avail of that free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

What is the best thing we can ever do with our lives? In a business sense, what can we do to maximise our profits for our lives? It is to follow Jesus with all of our lives for the rest of our lives. This is the best investment we can ever make in our lifetime. It is worth all the pains, sacrifices and suffering we can ever face in exchange for an eternal life of joy, peace and perfect happiness with God and all those who choose to obey Him.

Only those who truly discover this plan and purpose can say – what a wonderful life!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 

Ephesians 1:3-6 ESV

---

Top image credit: Illustration of man choosing to step into the narrow cross-shaped path that leads to friendship and eternal life with Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:13-14), © by Kevin Carden, from ChristianPhotoshops.com. Used with permission.