My Search for the Meaning of Life

Why? – It’s a common question. People want answers.  Many people are searching for meaning and purpose in life.  Perhaps you are one of them.

Like many children, I used to drive my mother crazy asking why questions.  I usually wasn’t satisfied with her answers though.  Most of them just generated another why question until she was exasperated and out of answers, and I was frustrated.  I had not heard of the law of cause and effect at that time, but without knowing it, I was seeking the first cause.

I Searched for Meaning in Science

I never lost my curiosity though.  I loved studying science to improve my understanding as I continued to search for the answer to why.  In college, I majored in biochemistry because it involved the study of all the sciences including math, biology, chemistry, and physics.  I even took electives in astronomy, mineralogy, quantum physics, and the philosophy of biology.

At first, I was satisfied by my increasing level of understanding.  However, as I studied higher-level courses, I learned that there is much that is not known, and possibly is not even knowable.

The atom is not simply made up of protons, neutrons and electrons.  These contain subatomic particles such as quarks, leptons, and neutrinos.  While we can describe the effects of the fundamental forces of nature, such as gravity and the nuclear strong force, we do not know why they exist or how they actually work.

Because measuring a system involves interacting with it, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle teaches that at the atomic level the more you know about where something is, the less you can know about its momentum and vice versa.  To top it off, in my Philosophy of Biology class, I was taught that Evolution does not meet the requirements of legitimate science because it is not based on observation and experimentation.

But Science was Not Enough

Instead of becoming firmer, the foundation of my knowledge base was becoming like a cloud.  This was very distressing.  I remember one of my freshman roommates hanging his head saying, “If this is all just a big chemical reaction, what’s the point?”

Two years later, I spent my Junior year in college searching for the meaning of life, but came away empty.  I learned a lot that year.  But, as an evolutionist, the only answer I could find for the purpose of life was to survive and reproduce.  That was not at all satisfying, but it was the best I could come up with.  So I just got on with life as best as I could.

Two years after that, I learned a better answer, but that comes later in the story.

Over 30 years have passed since then.  I was reminded of my past on an October day in 2007 as I hiked up the Saddle Rock trail to the summit of Green Mountain in Boulder, Colorado.  A young man and woman, students from Colorado University, were behind me on the trail.

At one point, I overheard the man earnestly telling the woman of his science studies (including Biology, Chemistry, and Physics) and how they just led him deeper as he searched for answers to “Why?”  He reminded me so much of me, I could not resist turning and speaking with them.

I told them that depending on one’s worldview, there are two possible answers to the ultimate Why question.  Either everything evolved by chance from matter that started from a “Big Bang” billions of years ago; or an all-powerful, all-knowing God created everything about 6,000 years ago as taught in the Bible.

There are two possible answers to the ultimate Why question

If everything has come about by chance from a “Big Bang,” then there is no reason why.  There is no purpose.  Everything is meaningless so you might as well stop searching for answers.

He responded that he thought the 2^nd Law of Thermodynamics provides a good reason Why.  (For those unfamiliar with the 2^nd Law of Thermodynamics, I will briefly explain that it is one of the best proven scientific principles and states that the entropy (disorder) of a system always increases unless energy is applied in an ordered way).  I replied that entropy can explain why everything wears out and is running down, but entropy cannot explain how life evolved, or how the order in the universe originated from a cosmic explosion.

I went on to say that if the Bible is true, then a self-existent, all-powerful and all-knowing God created the universe and everything in it out of nothing, and designed living things to reproduce after their own kind.  In this case, the purpose in life is to know the creator God and have a personal relationship with Him through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.  This is what I have come to believe, and it gives meaning to my life.

When I said that God created the universe, the young man again asked, “Why?”

As our paths were dividing, the quick answer I gave him was that we cannot be sure of God’s motive in creation.  Perhaps God wanted to express His creative ability just as people do, or maybe God wanted company.  He created man so He could have fellowship with us.  The woman thanked me, and we went our separate ways.

As I continued up the mountain, the conversation stuck with me.  There is so much more that I would have liked to say.  I also was not satisfied with my quick answer to why God created the universe in general and us in particular.  However, as I thought about it, the Bible does not really tell us why God created.  It just tells us that God created the heavens and earth, the sea and all that is in them.  It also tells us a little about how He did it.

As I continued pondering the question, several things occurred to me.  The Bible does not tell us God’s reason for creation.  And God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and our ways are not God’s ways (Isa 55:8).  So we cannot be sure of God’s motives for creating.  I remembered, however, that God created man in His image (Gen. 1:26).  That being the case, it is possible that God’s motive in creating the universe is similar to our motives for wanting to create or do great things.

I remembered that God created man in His image

We get a sense of achievement and pleasure from our accomplishments.  It is one thing to believe you can do something; it is another to actually do it.  During the 6 days of creation, Genesis 1 tells us that “God saw that it was good” six times as He progressively made and filled the universe.  When He finished, the Bible records, “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” (Gen. 1:26).  It sounds like God liked His creation.

The climax of God’s creative work was making man in His own image.  However, in Gen. 2:20, as Adam named the animals, it is noted that there was not a helper (companion) meet (fit or suitable) for him.  Gen. 2:18 (KJV) records, “the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.”  So God created Eve to be Adam’s companion.

God said it was not good for Adam to be alone; he needed a suitable companion.  Since, God created Adam in His own image, it is reasonable to believe that what was true of man, before he sinned, might also be true of God.  Perhaps God wanted companionship.  Perhaps God wanted friends.

Perhaps God wanted friends

Why do people want to have children?  They want someone they can raise in their likeness, someone who depends on them, someone who honors them, someone to love who will love them in return, someone who will be their friend for life.

The Bible says that God loves us (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8) and He wants our love in return (Deut. 6:5: Josh. 23:11; Matt. 22:27).  God wants people who will walk with Him (Gen. 5:22; 6:9; Micah 6:8), fellowship with Him, and be His friend (Isa. 41:8; James 2:23).  God wants people who will give Him the honor and praise He deserves as our creator and redeemer.

Are You Searching for Meaning?

Why, you might ask, am I telling you all of this?  I thought you might be looking for answers.  I too have asked, “Why?”  I too have lived without real meaning or purpose in my life.  A Godless world has no comforting answers.  According to evolutionists, our only purpose is to struggle to survive so we can pass our DNA on to the next generation.

A Godless world has no comforting answers

Richard Dawkins, a leading, modern evolutionist said,

“Humans have always wondered about the meaning of life . . . life has no higher purpose than to perpetuate the survival of DNA . . . life has no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.”[i]

 Biology: Discovering Life, a 1994 science textbook says,

“Darwinian evolution was not only purposeless but also heartless – a process in which . . . nature ruthlessly eliminates the unfit.  Suddenly, humanity was reduced to just one more species in a world that cared nothing for us.”[ii]

This is what our schools are teaching.  It is no wonder that people are looking for meaning and purpose in life.  It is no wonder that people need hope.  It is no wonder that people need answers.  It is no wonder that antidepressants are prescribed more than any other class of drugs in America.

For 23 years I struggled to live in a world without meaning

But then I learned the answer!

My life has meaning and purpose now, and yours can too!

Please let me share the good news with you

First, your life can have purpose

The all-powerful God who created you, loves you and wants to have a personal relationship with you.  God gives meaning to life.  Evolution and the big bang are lies!  You do not have to allow those man made theories oppress you any longer.

The big bang theory is man’s attempt to create the matter and energy in the universe without God.  Top scientists know there are problems with this theory, but the schools and the media continue to teach it because they have no other explanation for how the universe could come into existence without God.

Scientists do not believe in the big bang because it is true.  They believe in the big bang because they refuse to believe in a creator God.  “The fool hath said in his heart, “There is no God.”” – Psalm 14:1 (KJV)

Physical Science Cannot Explain the Origin of Stars

Naturalistic science does not have one plausible theory of how stars form apart from a creative act of God.  Once a sufficiently large amount of gas has been compressed into a small enough space, then gravity can hold it together as in stars and gas-giant planets.  But it takes energy and a container to compress a gas.

Molecular motion naturally causes gas molecules to spread out as far as possible, expanding to fill their container.  In addition, as a gas is compressed, it becomes hotter which increases the pressure to expand.  In the vastness of space, there is no container in which to compress diffused gas molecules and gravity is not strong enough to overcome the diffusive forces and compress them.

Physical science demonstrates that stars cannot form by chance due to naturally occurring forces, but the Bible has the answer to star formation.  The Word of God teaches that God supernaturally created the sun, moon and stars on the 4^th day of creation (Gen 1:14-19).  “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” – Psalm 19:1 (NIV)

Evolutionary Theory is Based on Assumptions Rather than Proven Facts

You might ask, “What about the age of the earth and billions of years?”  In reply, I would ask, “Why do people believe the earth is that old?”  Those who reject God in their thinking assume the universe is old because vast amounts of time and chance are the only way to make their fanciful explanations of how the universe formed and life evolved sound even remotely possible.

Remember, “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”” – Psalm 53:1 (NASB).  Time is the atheist’s god.  They claim that given enough time, the impossible becomes possible and the possible becomes probable.  They claim this even though the “big bang” and evolutionary theories are contrary to the 2^nd law of thermodynamics, the law of cause and effect, the conservation of angular momentum, and common experience.

Things naturally run down, wear out, and become messy.  A watch requires a watchmaker.  A clean house requires a housekeeper.  Explosions create chaos, not order.  Just adding energy to a system does not make it more orderly.  It takes intelligence to apply specific types of energy in specific ways to bring order out of disorder.

Uniformitarianism is a theory of geology that says that the rate at which things are currently changing is the rate at which they always changed.  Since things generally change very slowly in the present, it is assumed that things have always changed just as slowly.  So vast amounts of time are needed to explain the earth’s geology (such as fossils, rock layers and the formation of the Grand Canyon).

But Rapidly Occurring, Massive Geological Changes Have Been Observed

Catastrophes and natural disasters have been observed to make massive changes very quickly.  Canyons have formed in hours or days as a result of volcanoes and flash floods.  Rapid burial is required for fossil formation in general and polystrate fossils in particular.

A universal flood in the days of Noah, as recorded in the Bible (Gen. 6 – 9), explains the world’s geology much better than Uniformitarianism.  The universal flood of Genesis explains why there are thick sedimentary rock layers all over the earth.  The Genesis flood explains the existence of fossils all over the world, including those of sea creatures on the tops of the highest mountains.

Tremendous amounts of erosion occurred as vast amounts of water drained off the continents after the flood.  This explains the formation of the Grand Canyon much better than slow erosion by the Colorado River.  The Genesis flood explains the apparent age of the earth even though it is young.

Radiometric Dating is Based on Assumptions Rather than Proven Facts

Now you might ask about radiometric dating; doesn’t that prove the earth is old?  No, it doesn’t.  Radiometric dates are based on many assumptions (e.g.: initially there was only parent isotope and no daughter isotope, no diffusion of materials into or out of the sample, etc.), which cannot be proven.

Different dating methods often produce widely varying results.  Radiometric dating also provides evidence that the earth is young.  Carbon-14 (which has a half-life of 5,730 years) has been detected in coal, diamonds, and fossils with calculated ages of less than 80,000 years.  Helium leakage from Zirconium crystals indicates that they are only about 6,000 years old.

The evidence for the biological evolution is just as weak

The “missing links” are still missing.  No transitional forms have been found.  Natural selection is not evidence for evolution.  Natural selection selects for already existing genetic information that provides an adaptive advantage in a specific environment, but it does not create any new information.  In fact, it results in the selected organism having less genetic variability, which impairs its ability to adapt to any further changes in the environment.

Evolution would require vast amounts of new genetic information to be created over time.  The only proposed mechanism for this is mutation followed by natural selection.  The first problem with this is that it requires a fully functional, self-replicating (and therefore highly complicated) organism to start with.  The irreducible complexity of even the simplest organism precludes it from coming about by chance.

The second problem with the mutation / natural selection theory for evolution is that the vast majority of mutations are negative.  Even if 1 in 1,000 mutations were beneficial, there would be 999 negative changes occurring at the same time.  The overall trend is for mutations to degrade genetic information, not improve it.  Mutations cause cancer, mutations cause birth defects, mutations cause genetic diseases, and mutations cause infertility.

Mutations are not causing us to evolve into something better; they are slowly destroying our DNA!

The third problem is that selection occurs at the organism level, not the gene level.  Even if a mutation were beneficial, it would be highly unlikely to provide enough benefit at the organism level to be selected for.  This one trait would have to be more important to survival and reproduction than all other genetic traits combined.

Even though American schools and the media portray evolution as a proven fact, it is just a theory.  Evolution is far from a proven fact.  Evolutionary theories are constantly being changed as new evidence disproves the old ones.  Evolutionists do not believe in evolution because it is scientific or because it is a proven fact.  They believe in it because it is the only alternative to believing in a creator God, and they refuse to believe in God.

This is what the Bible has to say about those who propagate the lie that the big bang and evolution are scientific facts:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.  For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” – Rom. 1:18-21 (NASB)

“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” – Rom. 1:22 (KJV)

Paul told Timothy to avoid “profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science (knowledge) falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith.” – 1 Tim. 6:20-21 (KJV).  This is good advice for all of us today as well.  Would you rather place your trust in the ever-changing words of men, or in the never changing Word of God?

If you would have meaning and purpose in your life, you must turn from the foolish fables of false science and turn to the truth of God.  Jesus said, “If you continue in my word . . .  you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:31-32 (ISV).

The Bible has the answers you have been looking for

In the beginning, an all powerful, all knowing God created the universe, the world, life and man in 6 days, as recorded in Genesis 1 and 2.  Originally, everything was very good, including Adam and Eve (Gen. 1:31).  Sin and death were unknown.

God wanted genuine love from the people He created, so God gave them a free will.  They had the power to choose.  He gave them a simple test with only one rule to obey.  Sin entered the world when they chose to disobey God by eating the forbidden fruit.  This disobedience brought the knowledge of good and evil.  (For the whole story, please read Genesis, chapter 3.)

Adam’s sin resulted in separation from God, the curse, and death.  All naturally born people from then on have had a sin nature from birth.  “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to everyone, because all have sinned.” – Rom. 5:12  (ISV).

“As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after god.  They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.  . . .  For  all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” – Rom. 3:10-12, 23 (NKJV).

“For the wages of sin is death” – Rom. 6:23a (KJV).

You might ask, “What is sin?”

Sin is any disobedience of God, and ignorance of God’s law is no excuse.  You may have heard of the 10 Commandments:

• You shall have no other God beside the creator God of the Bible
• Do not make or worship idols
• Do not take God’s name in vain
• Remember to keep the Sabbath holy
• Honor your father and mother
• Do not steal
• Do not murder
• Do not commit adultery
• Do not bear false witness (do not lie)
• Do not covet (desire something that belongs to someone else)

If you have not honored God as your creator, you have sinned.  If you have ever used “God” or the name of “Jesus” as part of a curse, you have sinned.  If you have ever disobeyed one of your parents, then you have sinned.  If you have ever stolen anything, no matter how small, you have sinned.  If you have ever had sex outside of marriage, you have sinned.  If you have ever lied, you have sinned.  If you have ever wanted something that belonged to someone else, you have sinned.

If you have ever sinned, then, like everyone else in the world, you are a sinner.  We are all sinners.

So here is the bad news: We have all sinned because we are all sinners by nature.  God is completely holy, righteous, and just so He must punish our sin.  By our sin we have all earned death.  Death includes not only our inevitable physical death, but also eternal separation from God in Hell.  So we have earned eternal punishment in Hell.

The good news is that God, our creator, loves us!  God does not want to send us to Hell.  God loves us and wants our fellowship, just as any loving parent would want to be reconciled to an estranged child.  So God made a way to forgive our sin.

God’s holiness demands payment for our sin, but because of His love, God does not want to punish us.  In order that His love and justice could both be satisfied, God Himself provided a substitute to pay for our sins.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16 (NKJV).

God Himself became a man, born of a virgin named Mary.  This man was God in the flesh and had no human father, so He had no sin nature.  He was born of a woman though, so He was still fully human.  He was both fully God and fully man.  His name is Jesus.

His name is Jesus

Being fully human, Jesus was tempted just as we are.  However, being God and not having a sin nature, Jesus was able to live a perfect, obedient, sinless life.  “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” – Heb. 4:15 (ISV).

Even though Jesus never sinned, He still paid the penalty of sin by dying on a cross.  Because Jesus had no sin of His own to pay for, His death could pay for our sin.  Jesus took our place so He could be our substitute.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” – Rom. 5:8 (NASB)

“He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – 2 Cor. 5:21 (NASB)

“For just as through one man’s disobedience many people were made sinners, so also through one man’s obedience many people will be made righteous.” – Rom. 5:19 (ISV)

The good news is that Jesus Christ paid for our sins

The bad news is that we are all sinners and have earned eternal death by our sin.  The good news is that Jesus Christ paid for our sins by dying on the cross.  As a result, we can receive forgiveness of sins.  We can have eternal life as a free gift!

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Rom. 6:23 (KJV).

Salvation is an undeserved gift that God is willing to give us because He is merciful.  It must be humbly received.  It cannot be earned.

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” – Ti. 3:4-7 (ESV)

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” – Eph. 2:8-9 (KJV)

How to Receive God’s Gift of Salvation

The way you receive forgiveness of sin and the gift of salvation is by faith.  You must believe what the Bible says about your sin and your need of a savior.  You must believe that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh, that He lived a perfect, sinless life, and that He paid for your sins on the cross.  Then you must ask for God’s gift of salvation based on Christ’s death on the cross.  It is that simple.
“. . . if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” – Rom. 10:9-10 (ESV)

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” – Rom. 10:13 (KJV)

This is usually done by praying a prayer to God, such as:

Dear God, I believe that I am a sinner, that I deserve to go to Hell, and that there is nothing I can do to save myself.  But I believe that Jesus never sinned and that He paid for my sin on the cross.  Please forgive my sin based on His death, come into my life, and save my soul.

The exact wording of the prayer is not important.  It is the faith with which you pray that matters.  If you pray that prayer (or one like it) and you mean it, then God will forgive your sin and welcome you into His family.

Because of sin, we are all born spiritually dead.  That leaves an emptiness in our life, which can only be filled by God.  When you trust Jesus Christ as your savior, God not only forgives your sin and saves your soul, He also fills that void in your life.

In addition:

• You are adopted into God’s family and become His child – “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” – John 1:12 (KJV)

• You are born again spiritually – “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”  Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” – John 3:3-7 (ESV)

• You become a new person – “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” – 2Cor. 5:17 (NASB)

• The Holy Spirit of God begins to live in you – “When you believed in Him (Jesus Christ) you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, Who is the guarantee of our inheritance . . .” – Eph. 1:13b-14a (ISV)

Becoming a Child of God Gives Life Meaning

Not only does God become your heavenly father, but all other born again believers become your brothers and sisters in Christ.  You become part of a giant family, a loving and caring family.  You become part of something much larger than yourself.  You never need to be alone again because you can always have fellowship with God and His other children.

You become part of something much larger than yourself

“That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.  And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.  This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” – 1 John 1:3-7 (ISV)

Trusting Jesus as your Savior Gives Life Purpose

When you trust Jesus as your savior, your life not only becomes more meaningful, but it also gains purpose.  God has entrusted His children with a mission.  “ The Lord is . . . not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”– 2Pet. 3:9 (KJV)   We are to share the good news of salvation with those who are perishing.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” – Matt. 28:19-20  (NASB)

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”  – Acts 1:8 (NASB)

As God’s children, we are His ambassadors, His representatives, His witnesses to a lost and dying world full of people who do not know Him.  We need to live upright and loving lives so others may see God in us.

“You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” – Matt. 5:14-16 (NASB)

The Answer to the Ultimate “Why” Question

We are here to have fellowship with our creator, but sin has separated us from God.  Meaning in life comes from trusting in the death of Jesus Christ as payment for our sin, so that we may have fellowship with God.  Faith in Christ also gives life purpose.  God has entrusted His children with the mission of being His representatives on earth and sharing the good news of salvation with those who are lost.

We are here to have fellowship with our creator

If you have trusted Jesus Christ as your savior, here are some suggestions on how you can maximize your fellowship with God and His family:

• Keep confessing your sins.  Do not wait.  As soon as you realize that you have sinned, confess it to God and ask His forgiveness.  “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:8-9 (ISV)

• Get to know your heavenly Father better by reading His Word the Bible.  God has revealed Himself to us in the Bible.  We get to know God by getting to know His Word.

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” – 1 Pet. 2:2 (KJV)

“How can a young man keep his way pure?  By keeping it according to Your word.  . . .  I will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways.  I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word.” – Psalm 119:9, 15-16 (NASB)

I encourage you to read at least 4 chapters of the Bible every day.  This does not take long, and is enough to read the whole Bible in a year.  I would suggest beginning with the New Testament.

• Pray – God speaks to us through the preaching, teaching and reading of His word.  We talk to God through prayer, and He wants to hear from us.  Good relationships require good two-way communication.

“Pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thes. 5:17-18  (NASB)

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” –    Phil. 4:6-7 (ESV)

• Love God and all other people.  Jesus said, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and most important commandment.  The second is like it: You must love your neighbor as yourself.  All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.” – Matt. 22:37-40  (ISV)

We need to love God with all our heart, so make pleasing Him your top priority in life.  We also need to love other people as ourselves.  The best way to love others is by simply obeying the golden rule.  “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”  Matt. 7:12  (NASB)

• Join a Bible believing church where they preach from the Bible.  We all need fellowship with other believers.  Just being part of the family of God is not enough.  We need to be involved with a local group of genuine Christians who love God and believe His Word.  A burning log removed from a fire quickly grows cold and its fire goes out.  A log needs the heat of other burning brands to remain aflame.  So it is with us.  To keep our spiritual flame burning bright, we need the love, example, and encouragement that comes from close association with a group of other believers on fire for God.