Project Description
2013/11
A Word To Women
“Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever”
(The Shorter Catechism)
What is your purpose in life? What motivates you? This is a question pondered by many. For some, it is about being happy and living a full and busy life. For others, it is a matter of making lots of money, having the latest things the world has to offer, being successful. And for still others, it is just doing whatever they choose, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else.
The Shorter Catechism, in accordance with the Word of God (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17, 1 Peter 4:11) gives us the answer: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever”. You see, I think we have got our priorities mixed up. For many people, life is all about ‘us’ or, individually, it’s all about ‘me’. ‘What will I get out of life? How can I do well and get the best for myself? How can I push myself on and be more successful? How will doing such and such affect me? How can I truly be happy?’
To personalize it, I have applied the catechism to myself and asked, “How can I really be happy in this life? What is my purpose on this earth?” And just as personally, I have got the answer in two parts.
Firstly, “MY chief end (main purpose) is to glorify God”. I am God’s creation; He is the potter, I am the clay. He has made me, and re-made me, to glorify His holy name. Of course, as Christians, not one of us is perfect and we will fail the Lord often, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that we are here for the sole purpose, not of pleasing ourselves and doing what suits us, but of pleasing Him and glorifying His great name! That means from the minute we get up in the morning until we lay our heads on our pillow at night, our prayer should be “Lord, how can I glorify your name today? Lord, help me only to say, do, and think those things that will please You and glorify Your lovely name.” We must endeavour to glorify our Lord in attitude and action. How we think and how we behave will either bring shame to His name or will glorify it.
Secondly, I have discovered by experience the wonderful result of this glorifying of our Saviour’s name: that we will indeed be happy because we will enjoy God’s blessing and presence in our lives. His smile of approval will shine upon us. You see life is not all about ‘us’ or ‘me’. In fact, it’s not about me in any way…it’s all about the Lord.
He is the King of kings; He is the Creator of this world. Of course, He wants us to be happy as we spend our time here this side of eternity, but true happiness will only come as a result of putting Him first. Remember the words of Matthew 6:33: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Don’t be tempted to look for peace and happiness in yourself, or in your circumstances and achievements, but rather focus on what you can do or say to bring glory to your Heavenly Father.
What is life really all about? It’s about serving the Lord and enjoying His presence in this life and for all eternity. Ask Him today to help you see that He is the great and mighty God who deserves the glory, and to see yourself as the creature whom He loves and on whom He desires to shower His many blessings (Psalm 68:19).
Karen Murray
