TRYING TO FIND meaning in life is a basic need of all humanity; it always has been and it will be until heaven comes—or, until we find an answer that truly satisfies. But maybe there’s an answer that works for all of it. Our struggle, once past the support needed from adults prior to self-sufficiency, is at first a subjective groping towards real but very basic needs, such as food, or clothing, or shelter. Once there is sufficiency in those areas, we turn towards self-gratification, which often-times focuses on “More” or “better.” But, somewhen in the timeline of our journey, we encounter a gnawing sense that “More” doesn’t have a lot to do with stuff. Jesus cautioned, in the strongest of terms, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12:15) More stuff is just more stuff, and all it seems to do is create a need for more space to store it in. Being owned by a home puts us in bondage to its maintenance and payments, as do our choices in mobility, from cars to boats to planes and beyond; the stuff just keeps piling up and taking up our time and effort. The need for “More” begins to change meaning, and at this point we begin to examine what might bring real value to life. If we’re both fortunate and diligent, we begin to think not in terms of quality of things, but quality of life.
Quality of life is a central theme in the bible. Serious students of the bible find that what brings value to life is not the acquisition of goods, but rather the acquisition of a fully developed identity—something that unifies spirit, soul, and body into an integrated whole. Paul prays earnestly for us, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thess. 5:23) Life is not about doing, though our actions in life are a necessity for our practical needs; life is instead about being, and more specifically, about how we become, through what we believe and our resultant choices, not self-actuated, as described in the *“Hierarchy of Needs,” but spiritually activated. As Christians, we believe that we have been made new by a wondrous relationship with our Savior, and that our new Spirit makes possible new choices. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17) The Apostle Paul shares his view of the important issues of life with Timothy, and stresses making the right choices, with the single greatest decision centered in believing in and following after Jesus: “Join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life.” (2 Tim. 1:8b)
Paul’s life had been lived out as testimony before Timothy, and has been lived out biblically as such before all the generations of Christians who have come, and gone, after him. His story is a powerful part of the **“Greatest Story Ever Told,” which of course is the story of the life of Jesus Christ. And Paul shares with us an elevated view of the meaning of our lives, a ‘secret’ that the world does not know. God has saved us “not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.” (2 Tim. 1:9b) This is not an answer we can find on our own; this is an answer that can only be found in the anguish of honestly struggling with a life that is not satisfying. We recognize this fact: the grace of God, which has been waiting for such realization, becomes available to us. “This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” (2 Tim. 1:9c-10)
Appropriating this revelatory insight and making it also our own story is no simple thing. In one sense, it is just honestly saying the “sinner’s prayer.” Perhaps like this: “Lord Jesus, I believe that you died on the cross to save me from my sins and the punishment I deserve from God, and I believe that your suffering and death are sufficient in God’s eyes to pay the price for setting me free from that punishment. I accept you as my Savior, and as Lord of my life, and I promise to serve you from this day forward for all the days of my life.” But it is no simple thing to live this out.
Understanding who we are in Christ, and becoming like him, is not an instantaneous event, but instead a day-by-day journey through trials with both defeats and victories, until finally we arrive at a sense of resting faith, where we are able to say, “Father, in all that I am, and all that I am not, I am yours.” And here, life turns more deeply into a recognition that our true life has been found, and is ours: “For in him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) And it is here that Paul encourages Timothy, and us, to not only know, but to fully believe, that God’s promises are ours, and that in Jesus we have received the strength to live our faith. “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (1 Tim. 1:7)
And finally, Paul encourages Timothy, and through his letter to Timothy, us also, to help others find their true path to a meaningful and satisfying life. “What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.” (2 Tim. 1:13-14)
Q. Is my heart fully guarded? (Prov. 4:23)
*Abraham Maslow, “Hierarchy of Needs” – 1943.
**Director George Stevens, film: “The Greatest Story Ever Told” – 1965.
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