Why Live without a Purpose?

I don’t know about you, but wherever I lived, I would sometimes go to the cemetery to walk. This may seem strange or even bizarre, but I don’t think that I’m the only one to do such a thing. I did this in Pennsylvania where I grew up. I also visited the cemetery in Illinois where I lived for a short while and I’ve visited the cemeteries in Texas where I’ve lived for many years.

We see on the tombstones that someone lived and died at a certain time in history. In some instances we learn where the person died and was buried. It may be different from the past but why is it that people seldom state where they lived? In contrast to the past, where Bible verses and short poem verses used to grace the tombstone, we seldom find these significant additions today.

Do people not have a reason for their life? Do they not have a purpose for their living? Why do they not tell us why they lived their life and what eternal impact they sought to make? Why is God and the Lord Jesus Christ so seldom mentioned in this way?

What about you? Why are you here and why is it that your history includes the twenty-first century? After all, you were not present 2,000 years ago or at the time of creation, some 6,000 years ago. And if Jesus does not return shortly, you probably will not be here for more than a few more years. Then why is it that you are alive today—and what do you want to do with the remaining years of your life (if you actually will live for additional years)? You were not alive 1,830 years ago, or 1,450 years ago, or 780 years ago. You are alive today and there must be a purppse in this! God had you on earth today!

As Moses wrote, “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10). We then read the prayer: “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). Are we “numbering” our days or years? In light of these sobering thoughts, we continue reading: “O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days” (v. 14). Do we have this attitude and perspective each day of our life?

When you walk in a cemetery or grave yard, and read of the lives on the gravestones, ask yourself why this or that person lived! Am I preparing to meet God and stand before the Lord Jesus! In the words of Scripture: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

This includes you and it includes me! Years ago, I was traveling through North Carolina and stopped in Concord where a friend lived. He and I walked to a local cemetery and he showed me a grave stone with this inscription (one that has been on many stones for the past two hundred years):

Remember, friends, as you pass by,

As you are now, so once was I.

As I am now, so you must be.

Prepare for death, and follow me.”

Are you preparing now to live an earnest life for Jesus and are you preparing for death?

I once worked for a company where a young man also worked. He lived and worked, then left work one day. He drove his car but failed to negotiate a curve in the road. His car crashed and he was thrust out into eternity. What happened to him could also happen to you! Are we prepared?

 

Here is a place where this motto can be seen:

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8528970-remember-friends-as-you-pass-by-as-you-are-now

http://www.vastpublicindifference.com/2010/02/remember-me-as-you-pass-by.html

See also: gravelyspeaking