What's the point?

04/17/2006

"Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice,
and no one will take away your joy." John 16:22 (NIV)

What's the point of life? It's a great question that can lead us into a closer relationship with our Lord each day, because life is tough! Is this the way God designed things to be? Actually, no, it was not the way it was designed to be, but that got blown way back in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve chose to listen to the enemy and got kicked out of paradise to toil in the soil and bear children with great pain...

Isn't it interesting that right before Jesus was arrested and later crucified, He talked again about the pains of childbirth. In John 16, Jesus was telling the disciples about how He soon would be leaving them, and how they would grieve, but then how their grief would turn to joy when they saw Him again. Thank you Jesus! Thank you for leaving the glory of Heaven and spending time with us here, (John 17:4&5) so that we could know You, and You could show us up close and personal exactly what the point of life is!! The point of life is Jesus! That's it. Jesus.

And the reason life is so tough, is because we are in labor!! We are on the road Home, and we will soon be delivered into the loving arms of our Father in Heaven. He is awaiting our arrival! He knows our due date. He is the only one who does! And He's not telling anyone. Until then, there is bound to be some pain, and as we get closer, there is bound to be more pain. And so, as the pains increase, we can know the time is drawing near.

And where does that leave us as believers? It leaves us in an excellent position! Really it does! Life hurts, there are sorrows, there is great missing and heartbreak, BUT! We have Hope! We are looking towards a bright future! The enemy is not! We live in this world, but it is only a temporary situation. We'll be getting out of here one day, because Jesus said, "Father, I want these whom you've given me to be with me..." (John 17:24 NLT) We're going Home! We will be delivered from all this pain! It will not last forever! Halleluiah! That's Good News! So let's not miss the point! Jesus.

"Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart
because I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NLT)

When we begin to rest, to be still in Him, and begin to love Him as we should-because He first loved us...we will begin to understand that without loving God, this life will never be all that it was meant to be. If we take our eyes off of Him, the intensity of the labor of life will suck us try, spit us out and leave us feeling like there is no point at all to keep on going.
Life has no point without Him.
Finding joy through the trials is impossible without Him.
Eternity in Heaven is not available without Him.
He is the Focal Point that we must stare at every day of our lives!