What For?

This time of year brings the beginning of the school year here in the U.S. It always reminds me of a story I heard from Stanley Shipp, a man who worked with Herald of Truth, where I now work.

Stanley told about meeting a young man who told him that he was studying medicine. "What for?," Stanley asked.

"To become a doctor," the young man replied with a smile.

"What for?"

"So that I can help people not to be sick."

"What for?"

"So they can live longer lives."

"What for?"

"Well, I don't know ..." the young medical student stammered.

"That," Stanley said with a smile, "is where I've got something to share with you."

What's the point of living longer if we don't know what to do with the extra time? There has to be more of a purpose to life than just avoiding death. That's where science can sell us short and modern philosophies can leave us cold. If our whole purpose is to live a few years then pass into oblivion, then there's really not much of a point to life.

Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10). Some complain that Christianity is just a "pie in the sky" religion, merely holding out hope of something after this life. They fail to see that without hope for life after death, there can be no true hope in this life. There can be no meaning. There can be no purpose.

Jesus came to bring life, life to the fullest. He is no "pale Galilean" that steals the joy from life; he is the one who can make sense out of our existence here. He can answer the "What for?" that stares each of us in the face. He can take empty lives and turn them into lives of meaning.

If you haven't answered the "What for?" question in your life, let me invite you to visit our website at Hope for Life. Spend some time looking at the videos and reading the articles. Then contact us and let us show you the answer God has for that crucial question. Write to me at tarcher@heraldoftruth.org or leave a comment on our blog if you'd like to know more.