Heaven on earth

Monday night I was involved in a Bible study/discussion group some some friends of mine. We were talking about Ecclesiastes and this was a very good discussion about the first three chapters of the book. We were talking about all the things that The Teacher (believed to have been Solomon) had to say and how discouraged he was it seemed. He had one resounding theme to these first three chapters: Everything is pointless like chasing the wind.

This is a guy who was King over Israel. He was the wisest of all the kings. He was the richest of all. He had everything that he could have wanted, yet he couldn't find what the point of all of it was. That is what he says over and over again in these chapters. I have done everything that I could possible desire to do, and there is nothing in any of it that is worth anything. What a sad and frustrating out look really. He is frustrated by the fact that it doesn't matter what he does, if he works hard or not, if he is smart or not, the end result is still the same...we all die.

We however have the opportunity now though to be able to look at life and see what it is that the Teacher couldn't. We see life through the filter of Jesus. He is who gives our life the purpose that it has. Through him we see that there is more to life than just being born and dying. He gives us purpose. For too long though, it seems that we have portrayed that to be a sole purpose: to get to Heaven. That was it.

Here is what I want to say about that. Yes that is what we want, and it is the ultimate goal I would think. But the thing is, that shouldn't be the only purpose that we have for following Jesus. We should be trying to live as Jesus lived and when Jesus lived and walked this earth in flesh, he attempted to make life better for those around him. He healed people and prayed for people and fed people and ate with people. He didn't discriminate and his sole purpose didn't seem to be just to be sure that people would go to Heaven.

So if that wasn't the sole purpose of Jesus, then why do we at times act like that is our sole purpose with following Him? Instead of just trying to ensure our "spot" we need to be living as Jesus did: attempt to make life better for those around us. We should be praying for people and feeding people and eating with people. This is what our faith should look like I believe. Now, is that an easy thing to do all the time? As Paul would say, By no means!! And yet it is the goal that we should strive for. It should be our goal, not just to get to Heaven in the afterlife, but to bring a bit of Heaven here for others through our faith in Christ. Peace and Love y'all.