What is Our Purpose in Life?
This will be the last article I write for The Scott County Times. My missionary assignment from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to serve Christ and my fellowmen here in Scott County Mississippi has come to an end and I am returning to my home in Texas. It has been a very fulfilling 4½ years. I love the small town environment and the friendly kindness of the people. I have made many friends and I am going to miss living here. But most of all, I am going to miss being able to have a conversation with anyone on the street and be talking about family and God within a few minutes. Mississippi is the most religious State in our Nation. We love God, family, neighbors, and hunting. Hopefully in that order.
In parting, I would like to share my heart.
I am a scientist by profession. I spent my career in research and corporate management. When I retired, my wife and I wanted to do something of much greater value for mankind than developing new technology. Technology may make life easier, but it does not, in and of itself, do anything to accomplish God’s purpose, which He shared with Moses, “For behold, this is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39). So we committed ourselves to better align our life’s purpose with God’s purpose by doing volunteer missionary work around the world. We have served over 8 years in the Dominican Republic, in Africa, and now here in Mississippi, and in doing so we have learned a bit about humanity.
While cultures differ across the world, mankind has the same basic needs, desires, and trials. We are all seeking purpose in life. We all recognize the importance of family and value this relationship and those of our neighbors. We feel and respond to the need to help each other. We all face trials and difficulties. We all suffer pain and disappointments. And we all hope and have faith that with effort, tomorrow will bring a better day, and we will be a better person. So we press forward, but often with confused purpose.
Most cultures reverence a higher being, a God, that gives us purpose in life, who sets standards of conduct, and holds us accountable for our behavior. But in this fallen world where the philosophies of men have deceived many, it has become difficult to recognize and discern between good and evil. We find it difficult to choose values that will elevate and prosper mankind, and then live by those values. This is the invitation extended by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to all who will hear it. He said that if we will follow him, we will know his Father, the God of Heaven and Earth and understand God’s purpose. Christ said that if we will follow him and live the gospel he taught, enduring until the end of our mortal life, we would receive Eternal Life in Heaven with our Heavenly Father.
So as a missionary standing on the shoulders of Paul and tens of thousands of other missionaries and ministers over the past 2000 years, I bear testimony that there is a God in Heaven, that He sent his son Jesus Christ to testify of Him, and to show us the way to Heaven. I pray that we will all hear Christ’s voice and accept his invitation to come unto him, to live his gospel of joy and salvation, and to receive immortality and eternal life. Christ knocks at our door, ready to help. But we must open the door and invite him in. The choice is ours. What is your purpose in life?
