Suppose someone gave you a 1000 piece puzzle for Christmas. What you didn’t know is that the pieces were placed in the wrong box with an unrelated cover giving an incorrect picture of the completed puzzle. After multiple efforts with only a few random pieces snapped together, you begin wondering if the cover on the box is the correct one. In desperation, you go to the website of the manufacturer and glance at all the puzzles they sell. Nothing stands out, so you pick one that you feel might be right. Yet in a short time, you are frustrated again and choose another scene from the website.
Every person at some point hopes to see the big picture for the meaning of life and understand their purpose of being. We all ponder the ageless questions, who am I and why am I here? Without Christ, people are but a table filled with pieces of a puzzle and no complete picture from which to work. You can spend the rest of your life trying to snap the pieces together, picking, and choosing various covers hoping it is the correct one. However, putting the pieces together looking at the wrong picture will prove impossible.
The world lays before us endless ideologies, philosophies, religions, cultures, and institutions, all claiming they offer the correct perspective of the life. Satan utilized a subtle method that presents Christianity as merely one equal story in a mixture of belief systems thus creating confusion. I watched a promotion this week for an upcoming documentary on the Bible. On the same day on the same channel, a viewer could also watch a program on Islam, on aliens, on a psychic and on ghosts. For anyone searching for the meaning of life, he or she is like the person searching through all a manufactures puzzle covers hoping to stumble on the correct one.
Unlike evolutionist claim we are not the product of meaningless chance, leaving us with no given purpose or final destiny. Rather all humans are deliberate creations of God. “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Gen 1:26, 27). For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb . . . for I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psa 139:13, 14). However, with an all-out war on Christianity and the infallible truth of the Bible, the endless conflicting messages confuse people, especially the younger generation. More and more our youth grow up believing they must create an identity and purpose for themselves. In an age of political correctness, which presents all beliefs as equal, choosing truth becomes increasingly difficult.
Even as believers, we must resist outward pressure from the world to define who we are. Do not be conformed to this world (Rom 12:2). The world includes our peers, culture, society, and government, all of which demand we look a certain way, wear certain clothes, eat particular foods, own certain things, be a part of certain groups, and accept its values. Christians must allow the Holy Spirit to transform them into the person He designed. The Message Bible translates this verse; fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
John Calvin said, “It is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God’s face.” ‘Who I am’, is rooted in the relationship we have with God and becomes clearer as we grow in Christ and knowledge of His Word. Christians express their relationship with Christ through actions, behavior, kindness, and love. In this age of conflicting messages among people trying to put the pieces together, we must let our light shine. As the old cliché says, we may be the only Jesus someone ever sees. Who I am in Christ should reflect the truth that the message of the Gospel is superior to all the other contradictory messages. Some try to confine witnessing to the verbal ability to share the Gospel. The word has a far broader meaning indicating we proclaim Christ to those around us through how we live. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.”
Who am I? Why am I here? Life is not a puzzle when we see the completed picture in Christ and His Word. God is not only the architect; He is the assembler putting all the pieces in place. I spent too much of my life letting others define who I am. The older I get, the better I understand and see His completed picture. Don’t make the same mistake—let God snap the pieces in place and define who you are.
Sustaining Word for the Week: Your relationship with Christ defines, who you are. Don’t let the world pressure you into being someone else. Let your light shine for those searching through all the confusing messages the world presents.