People will sometimes ask, "Why am I here?" or "What is my purpose?" or "What is the purpose of life?"
The Westminster Shorter Catechism of 1647 gives a clear answer to these questions: "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever."
It is an awareness of God's nature that enables us to enjoy Him and worship Him. Peter Abelard wrote, "Since His goodenss is so great, His will so perfect, that He does what ought to be done, not unwillingly, but spontaneously, He is so much the more completely to be loved because of His very nature, and the more to be glorified because this goodness of His belongs to Him not by accident, but substantially and immutably" (From Epitome Theologiae Christiannae, c. 1135).
God is good, and His goodness can be seen all around us and within us. In fact, the word good is a euphemism for God. Take a moment to ponder the goodness of God and see what happens to your attitude. Worship and adoration will arise within you as you behold the goodness of our God.
R. W. Barbour wrote, "The Lord's goodness surrounds us at every moment."
George MacDonald wrote, "The Father was all in all to the Son, and the Son no more thought of His own goodness than an honest man thinks of his honesty. When the good man sees goodness, he thinks of his own evil: Jesus had no evil to think of, but neither does He think of His goodness: He delights in His Father's. "Why callest thou me good?"
One of the best ways to enjoy God is to worship Him, not for what He has done for you as a result of His inherent goodness, but for His very nature, which is essentially goodness. We must worship God for who He is and thereby we will enjoy Him forever.
William Law, who penned the Bridge-Logos Pure Gold Classic entitled A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, wrote, "The goodness of God breaking forth into a desire to communicate good was the cause and the beginning of the Creation. Hence, it follows that to all eternity God can have no thought or intent towards the creature but to communicate good, because He made the creature for this sole end, to receive good."
So, why are we here? What is your purpose? We are to receive God's goodness, glorify Him, and enjoy Him forever. In His presence there is fullness of joy and there are pleasures forevermore.
