Nobody knows how long he or she will live. Yet, we all set plans for what we are going to do in our lives. The Buddhist people have their basic principle of life. They say, “While you are young seek education, when you become mature in knowledge and physical seek wealth, and when you become old seek Dhama.” Dhama means the truth, but it simply means seek God. This is their purpose of life. Would this be right for Christians? Are we to seek God only when we are getting old? Are education and wealth more important than God?
Many Christians claim that seeking God must be the purpose of our lives. They quote Matthew 6:33-34, which reads, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Yet, most of them misunderstand and practice this verse in a wrong way. Many people seem to think that they better seek God to get what they want. They put the second sentence first as God will provide you the things you want if you seek Him. From this, a false teaching that “Christians are supposed to be rich” came about.
The Devil, though, changed the priority whether to seek spiritual or physical things first. Satan said in Matthew 4:9, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” If we seek first God and His righteousness, we will find the way to life, which will take us to the Father (John 14:6). Satan can give every physical thing you desire, but he is not able to give eternal life.
Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:7-8, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.” Here we are taught to content with having food to eat and clothes to wear. We are not to worry about our physical needs while seeking God. Jesus said in Matthew 6:25, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” God has given us a very precious life. We are to use this precious life for Him, but we are always worrying about ourselves. We do not worry about what God wants us to do. We always ask God for what we want, but we do not ask what He wants us to do.
Many times our purpose of living in the world is to satisfy our own flesh. In 1 Corinthians 10:31 Paul said, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” So our purpose of living in this world should be to glorify God in whatever we do, and yet, we often put ourselves first.
King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 12:1, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, I have no pleasure in them.” He reminded us to remember our Creator from the days of our youth because the days of evil are coming. “Remember” means always keep in heart. We should not seek God only when we are old like the Buddhist people do.
Therefore, our purpose of living in this world should be to glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31) and to serve Him (Ecclesiastes 12:1). We are not to worry about our tomorrows according to the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:25. At last Jesus Christ commanded us to preach the Gospel to every nation (Matthew 28:28; Mark 16:16). There is no greater goal than walking with God and spending our lives for Him (Philippians 1:21).
