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Why are l Here? What is the chief end of humankind?  What is the ultimate purpose of God for man?The simple, yet profound answer provided by the scriptures and the old long-standing practicing based upon the revelation and wisdom of the

word of God to this primal question is:The chief end of humankind is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. This needs no translation to any thinking person .

To worship, glorify and celebrate God – that is the chief end of every man and woman (ecclesiastes 12 verse 13). But one wonders why so many people have missed this fact.

Why have so many remained ignorant of God’s love, divine plan and perfect with throughout an entire life time? why do so many crates most of the unkind

situations in their lives and in the lives of others, and finally crying out in hopeless despair: oh! I don’t even know why I am born into this world?

One of the greatest tragedies of our time, even though perceived as the most enlightened of all ages, is the ulter failure of millions of men and women to discover why they we are born.

Most Christians today have already been trapped in their understanding of the chief goal of their life. Some have been trapped by the wealthy society such that the chief end of humankind and the ultimate purpose of God is utterly forgotten.

They now see their chief aim of existence as just to live, eat and enjoy the wealthy society they are born into and if possible help in making it wealthier for the coming generation.

It is good to enjoy the good things God has given us for our pleasure and enjoyment. But they must not blur our vision of God’s ultimate for us.

When we are trapped, we are in bondage. Bondage is anything which restricts us and prevent us from being totally free in our thoughts, choices and actions. It is that which holds us and drives us to do things that we know are wrong, yet cannot restrain ourselves from doing them.

Another level of bondage apart from a wealthy society is a depressed society. Many are trapped under the depressed condition of some societies. There is a hunger, oppression and wickedness.

There is enslavement and multilation of fellow human beings. Death of all kinds perpetrated by individuals or groups against others are rampants and we find ourselves trapped in this inhuman and notorious art of people.

Most people are bounded to new trends that keep changing from time to time, some of which challenge some moral ideals that are enshrined in scripture and accepted over the years such as sanctity of marriage and the sanctity of human life.

We can be trapped within ourselves by our thoughts, patterns and ideals. If we make ourselves, our feelings and

judgement the yardstick for our actions, then we may not be able to learn from others or from events around us. We may

also be trapped by our tradition, that we follow them sheepishly without pausing to discover whether they reflect the will of God.

Some religious and cultural forms as well as racial prejudice, class systems and sexist views are various forms of bondage that we hold us captive.

There are people who are trapped by certain habits. No level of reasoning, dialogue or encouragement can make them change their habits. They consider themselves to have better reasoning and better habits than others.

Most people become trapped in their perceptions of life and to their emotions. When we are enslaved to habits or situations that debar us from realizing God plan for us we wander from God’s will for our lives.

The Hebrews suffered different levels of bondage. It all started with a wealthy society which Joseph brought them into which blurred vision of the inheritance canaan.

Egypt became a paradise for them. They settled and consolidated. When Satan got them quite settled and comfortable, and trapped their minds to the wealth and

beauty of Egypt then he unleashed upon them venomous oppression and suffering beyond their strength, knowledge and escape.

It was indeed a formidable slavery. This was to further trapped them and reduce them to mere robots.

But for God’s intervention, they would have been lost forever, missing God’s freedom and ultimate for them. God’s ultimate for all his people is that our

whole life should be a celebration; a celebration of our God. This was exactly the reason Moses gave to Pharaoh for the exodus of the Hebrews, let my people go so that they have a festival to God… ..(Exodus 5 verse 1))

God longs to see his people liberated from every kind of bondage – bondage of sin, flesh and the world, principalities and power and any kind of wickedness to His Divine ownership.

He longs to carry us into himself as a precious possessions and thus solely responsible overall affairs of our lifes.

He wants us to share in his kingdom  as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that we may declare the praises of him who called us from darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2 verse 9).

God’s ultimate for his people his further prefigured in a good and spacious land ,a laand flowing with milk and honey…. (Exodus 3:8).

it is God’s ultimate for people to share in the eternal celebration in the heavenly kingdom. The good and spacious land, flowing with milk and honey is a type of jesus’s promises

and encouragement to his disciples when he said, do not be afraid, little flock, for your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.(Luke 12:32).

God packed the exodus and the rugged journey towards the promised Land with actions and thrilling miracles. Although the wonder of God was overwhelming during this rugged  journey, yet majority of the Hebrews did not always trust God to carry them through.

They were still enslaved to their old life. Once there was a challenging situation that required faith in God, instead of trusting God, most of them wished a return to Egypt, the land of slavery. This is a big irony!

while Moses was having an encounter with God for their well-being, they became so impatient and quickly discarded the wonder God has displayed in their midst and made a God for themselves.

The  more they lost sight of God’s wonder, the more they deviated from God’s plan for them and consequently became a wandering people. a journey that God has planned for 40 days was lengthened to 40 years of wandering in the desert.

Day by day, the wondering continued because of their lack of trust in God and their impatience with God. This process many of the Hebrews were hindered from experiencing the joy of entering into the promised Land.

This should serve as a warning to Christians today. We loose time and resources when we move away from God’s plan for us. For example, there are many families that

moved away from God’s plan for them to live peacefully and achieve great success ;they rather lived in acrimony and consequently witch – hunting one another from many years.

If they are lucky to have finally found peace in God, they have already wasted lost of time and resources in their wandering from God’s plan for them.

They discover that the successes they could have achieved in few years may now take several years and in the end, they may not be accomplished as perfectly as God had planned for them.

God calls us today out of our situations and circumstances to realise his ultimate and best for us. He want us to celebrate life in him. Christianity today has strayedfrom celebration.

We tend to force ourselves into our mechanical observersance as of worship while missing out the actual celebration in worship.

We are called to celebrate the reign of Life. God has delivered us in Christ Jesu,s by that singular act of sacrifice by the Godhead on the cross and the mighty act of vindication by the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When Jesus is the lord of our lives, we are assured of God’s unfailing love and care to us and all his people, and his might to rescue us from most desperate conditions.

God is able to deliver and to save completely, those who put their trust in him. He has made us in his image and likeness to be free, healthy, happy, joyful and productive.

Yet, he want us to share in the best celebration in celestial realm, prepared only for the triumphant saints, those who discarded their wandering from God and embrace God’s wonder.

Shalom……

Also read this…….

God’s priority

“HOW TO KNOW THE MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART”

THE CURSE OF COMPARISON.

Discipleship:An Imperative for churchmanship

Be of the church not in the church