I’m just a voice crying out in the wilderness…, but I know in my heart of hearts and in my soul what I have to say is important.  Not because of who I am, because I am nobody, but because of who God is, the one who has created us all and who sustains us.   He is the reason why we even exist, and who gives us purpose.  Without Him, if somehow this was all just some random biological accident transpiring over billions of years without any point other than some haphazard collision between time and circumstance, then what is the point?

And don’t tell me you haven’t entertained this very question.   And if by some remote chance you do just happen to be the one person on the planet who hasn’t, then stop reading right now and save yourself from the nagging thought I’m about to lodge in your brain like a splinter of glass just under your index finger that you just can’t seem to find with a magnifying glass even though it throbs with an annoying pain every time you brush it up against something.

A strictly biological life without a creator or designer itself in such a circumstance would truly be meaningless.   What a sad proposition……, but every year, thousands and perhaps millions of people come to that conclusion and end it all because their life, quite frankly sucks! They are confronted with unbearable living conditions, unbearable disabilities, sicknesses, depression, anxiety, agonizing loss, or unbearable people in their lives, all driving that question in their minds which absolutely and unrelentingly demands an answer.  What’s the point?   And in such circumstances, if life really is meaningless and you haven’t been one of the fortunate few who have found true happiness and a reason to exist, then why not end it all?

Now, don’t take me wrong, I am in no way advocating the killing of one’s self.  I am merely taking us through an exercise in self examination, which everyone beyond childhood and the age of understanding must do.  Unfortunately, in our present era, we as people have fabricated a unique little system designed specifically to distract us from asking ourselves that very question.  It’s called busyness, but it’s so much more than that, it’s procrastination at the highest intellectual and spiritual level known to man.

While on one hand, we desperately want to know the answer to the two-part question of, “who am I, and why am I hear?” we are also equally trying to avoid the answer.  It is, hands down, thee greatest conundrum known to man.  To illustrate my point, and of course I can’t prove it, but I believe it is the very thing which drove Charles Darwin to develop his very intricate theory of evolution, and which I believe drives all others to devise their own elaborate theories of why there is no God.

Consider first the benefits of disproving the existence of God and you will soon recognize my thought process.  When we are young and life is new to us, to explore all that is available without limits is a very physically real and attractive proposition.  To believe in a Christian God creator and his Ten Commandments is a very real and tangible downer to that plan.   I’m sure believers from other religions who have weighed the perceived moral anchors from their own religious underpinnings against the perceived benefits of unrestricted access to all the world has to offer will find the same challenges, particularly if your wandering spirit is demanding access.

When the thought of judgment and accountability creep into our psyche, it can really cause us to pause at the gate of unrestricted pleasure.  However, with a little of life’s age and seasoning comes a certain amount of  wisdom and reflection whether we want it or not.  As children, we wear our parents out with questions, never ending questions as to why we can’t do this, and why we can’t do that?  Traditionally, our parents have had the answers, not because they themselves haven’t asked the same questions of their parents in youthful ignorance, but because of that one great multiplier, experience.   But experience alone is not the best reason for indulging in this, or avoiding that, it’s life’s meaning and purpose that is ultimately the highest motivator of why we do what we do, or abstain.

Answer this one question and teach others to do the same and everything else falls into place.

Who am I, and why am I hear?

If your answer is – for a purpose bigger than myself, and to love and honor God and to serve mankind, then you will approach life with a certain fear, selflessness, reverence and respect.  You will set boundaries for yourself and your family based upon established laws and principles, seek to serve others, and you will respect authority, the authority of God and of your parents.

If your answer is – life is random and meaningless, survival of the fittest,  then you will love only self and serve only self for the benefit of self.   Then you will approach life with a certain idea of self preservation, self gratification and disdain for others who might interfere with your personal happiness, but then once the mistakes of life start to pile up beyond your ability to bear up under them, you will question your very existence.

Hope for purpose and meaning invades everyone’s soul.  Some for the sake of earthly pleasure and immediate gratification ignore it and drown it out, and peace and joy elude them in this world and the next.  Those that embrace it and seek the author of it find peace and joy not only in this world but the next.

If you find that your religion, whether it be Atheism, or any one of a multitude of other false religions is leaving you without peace, then perhaps you are seeking in the wrong direction.

Jesus said, “come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28

Jesus also said to his disciples, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mark 6:31

For the peace which eludes you comes not in unrestricted access to your every whim, nor does it come in a religious practice or discipline, but rather, in the coming of a Savior, and that Savior is none other than Jesus Christ!  Know Christ, know peace, no Christ, no peace!

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.”   Isaiah 9:6-7