Something To Live For

If you look around to the craziness around you, you could easy get depressed and say, “What’s the use?” People in every era and in most lives lived could say at one point, “What’s the use?”

Throughout every point of history there have been people who have given up even though they had it relatively easier than most people around them. The difference was their lack of hope and purpose.

Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher (1844-1900) made a profound statement, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” In my estimation, the “why” is deep inside us and the “how” are the circumstances around us. If the “why” inside us is powerful enough, then the “how” may cause us pain but not defeat our spirit.

I have a very powerful “WHY” in my life. People of faith in Jesus have a supreme “WHY”. I have many “whys”, my family, my work, my leisure pursuits, but most of all Jesus Christ and His Kingdom is the big WHY in all caps.

My life in the Kingdom of God and God’s purpose through me is a powerful purpose that pushes and pulls me forward in the most difficult of times. My wife and I were sitting in the doctor’s office with a cardiologist and a cardiovascular surgeon who were evaluating me for an aortic heart valve replacement. I told them that I was a man of faith and if God had something else for me to do, then they would not be able to kill me. It was replaced May 2, 2022 and I am doing well—God has a purpose for me.

The Apostle Paul who was sitting in a Romans prison said, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. / But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell” (Philippians 1:21-22 NKJV). Paul was a great example of a man of God who knew his purpose and pursued it with full enthusiasm. He had a purpose to live for and a purpose to die for.

I believe deep in the heart of man is a desire to pursue life with meaning and purpose. Just remember that many pursuits in life end in dust and nothingness. The pursuit of money, things, fame, etc. will all end in dust.

Whatever money we have left will probably go to those who will spend it, as if they hadn’t had to work for it.

Only a few folks ever get a measure of fame that last for decades. There is only one Elvis Presley. In other words, our names may not become an answer on Jeopardy in the year 2175 (Who is Harry Whitt?) Haha!

Only a few people will be remembered beyond two to three generations. Most likely our great-grandchildren may not even know our names and if so, the remembrance will be only our name and a faded photograph.

I’m not trying to make you sad but encouraging you to live a life for eternity. Live for a purpose beyond this ball of clay.

Listen to the warning words of Jesus, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; / but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. / For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV).

If you are looking for purpose and hope, you will not find it on Facebook, TikTok, nor at Walmart. You will find it in Jesus Christ. He will give you a purpose and a reason to live for and a victory even in death.

Here’s one other quote from the Apostle Paul who eventually laid his head on a Roman executioner’s block when he was martyred for the cause of Christ, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” (Philippians 3:12 NKJV).

We can have something to live for and to die for. Find your true purpose in Jesus and get that powerful WHY to get you through any HOW!

Yours on the Journey,

Harry L. Whitt