The Purpose of Existence (step right up folks, here it is!)

People are complicated things. We love, we hate. We are stubbornly passionate in our feelings, and yet, sometimes easily swayed. There are many things about life that are wonderful. Growing up has many experiences, good and bad, that mark us for life. Although all people are different, I believe we have many common factors. Love and hate, I have already mentioned. These are the strongest. but there are many other things that bind us together. Pride is one of these things. You may think that there are many people with no pride, but even those of us who are not popular, or accomplished, pride in little things, or long for something to be proud of. "I'm proud of you" is one of the most longed for things to hear a parent, or anyone, say, along with, "Here are the keys to your new car!". But more importantly, we as Christians long to make God proud of us, to hear "Well done, my good and faithful servant" is, or should be, the goal of our life. I won't tone it down for you at all. Obedience to God is your reason for existence. Not a sport. Not a girlfriend. Not your grades, your car, your friends, or anything else you may take pride and joy in. Nothing else matters. I'm not being critical of you, anymore than I am being critical of myself. I see in my everyday life something that saddens me, almost more than I would have thought possible - a lack of Reverence. Reverence may seem like a big word that applies to preachers, (and it is) but it is also a word that should (and someday will) apply to every person in the world. I can say it will with complete confidence. How, you ask? Because He has decreed it. "Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess". But, as He also says, it is much better for those who gladly praise him now. I desire, hope, and pray, that this applies to all the people I love. I fear that it does not. I know all this sounds stuffy, and preachy, and it sounds that way even to me as I type it, but I also know it is true. God is in charge. He deserves not only our praise on Sunday mornings, but our obedience every millisecond of our existences. He won't get it until we are in heaven, but he should! Do you know that it is impossible for us to be perfect on our own? But not only does God deserve our complete obedience, He offers us the strength to obey, if only we would take it. For now, the best that I can do is take His strength, and follow Him. I stumble, yes. It seems like, instead of a little stumble in my straight path, I have a little straight path in my stumble. But I know that He can save me from whatever I do. I can't possibly mess up my life worse than He can fix it! All that is left for me, for you, and for every single person in the world, is to Follow Him. Obey Him. Love Him. That is all it takes.