What do you live for?

I have a question for you: What do you live for?

You know, some people might say, “For me, to live is to get a lot of stuff.” Maybe they have a bumper sticker on the back of their Ferrari that says “he who dies with the most toys wins.” I guess that's true, the problem is you win nothing, because you can't take it with you. Have you ever seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul trailer?

Another person might say, “Well, for me, to live is pleasure.” Just have as much pleasure as possible in this world.” And there is pleasure to be had in this life. But if in that pursuit of pleasure, we forget God, we're just wasting our life. The Bible even says that she who lives for pleasure is dead while she's living.

Another person might say, “Well, for me, to live is to get even. Someone got me and I'm going to get them. I don't get mad, I get even.” Even that is such a crooked way to live. To live with a grudge in bitterness and anger . . . that's not the way you want to live.

What Matters in Life

Here are the words of a man that lived 2,000 years ago that knew what mattered in life. We know him as the Apostle Paul. Here's what he said: “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

That doesn't mean when you live for Christ, you can't enjoy life in this world. It doesn't mean you can't have pleasures. What it means is you that have your priorities in order. Paul understood that the most important thing in life was to live for the God who made him.

Listen to this: you were created to know God. C.S. Lewis put it this way: seek heaven and get Earth thrown in; seek Earth and get neither. I think what Lewis was trying to say is that if you live for the things of the world, you're left unsatisfied. You're like a dog chasing its tail. Put God first, though, and there are still pleasures in life to enjoy—in the proper priority. As the Apostle Paul said: “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” Something to think about!