Recently I was on the beach in Florida discussing faith, spirituality, and religion with many people. One man in particular in his late 30’s I found to be unusually honest.

When I asked him what his purpose was on earth he retorted “to get as much money as I can get, as quick as I can get it.” Today many people feel the same way, but don’t phrase it quite so bluntly. I appreciated this, because I can say that I too had that same conviction for much of my life. Society is constantly inundated with commercials, billboards, flyers, and magazines all telling us that we are just one product away from real happiness.

However is that really what life is about, are we really here to acquire stuff? Is our purpose to build wealth, and get as many euphoric feelings as we can before our timer expires? If this logic is to hold true, then Bill Gates and Warren Buffet should by all accounts be shooting smiley faces out of their pores. Most hedge fund managers would be smiling so big they would have more dimples than Marge Simpson has hair. And Hollywood would be in a constant state of euphoria. Do we really see this happening? Hollywood has more divorces than Florida has coconuts. Could it be that humans weren’t designed to acquire stuff? Could it be that we have a purpose that far out weighs possessing Plasma TV’s and Mercedes?

These questions surrounding the purpose to life would seem so basic. How could you not think about what on earth am I here for, or what am I supposed to be doing with my life. However one of the devil’s greatest accomplishments is having people float through life without really wrestling with these questions. If you truly want to live a purposeful life and be as effective as possible, then shouldn’t you first know your purpose? Then everything you do should be geared towards that ultimate goal. What if there really is life after death, and what if, like the Bible claims, it does go on forever. Could we afford to be wrong about this, in fact wouldn’t it be better to be wrong about everything else for your entire life on earth, and get this one thing right, than to be right about everything on earth, yet bomb out on your eternal destination?

If you had to spend the next 3 days, 3 months, or 3 years even pursuing these questions wouldn’t it be worth it in the scope of eternity? This seems like such common sense, but if it is, and it isn’t being done, why? Maybe because we all have a little bit of “to get as much money as I can, as quick as I can” in us. Life’s to short to be wrong about eternity; it doesn’t matter if you believe in God or not, just because you don’t believe doesn’t negate His existence. It matters what is true. Pursue truth.