Purpose and meaning of Life | Kenneth Lo

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4

Covid-19 has forced me once again to confront mortality. Behind the numbers that I receive daily from Gov.sg lies pain and suffering, grief and loss. Each number count is a father or mother, a grandpa or grandma, a son or daughter, a brother or sister. It’s heart-breaking. Witnessing fellow man dying at this horrific rate, I can’t but be troubled existentially again asking:

What’s the point of it all? I live and I die tomorrow. Is there any purpose and meaning to life?’

James says there is a purpose and meaning to life, and it is no secret. Because it is a common understanding among all Christians – for you know. It is that ‘you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.’

As a Christian, that’s my destination in life. That’s where I’m heading towards, and inching closer each passing day. Everything that will come at me today nudges me towards this goal God has set for me: maturity.

The goal is my maturity. The path to this goal is testing… produces steadfastness…And let steadfastness has its full effect. And my posture in this journey towards this goal along this path is count it all joy… when I meet trials of various kinds.

Come what may, God has given me purpose and meaning for my day today. And it’s a glorious destination that I’m heading. Yes, moments of anxiety, of anger, of disappointment will probably come today. But in all of that, God’s sufficient daily grace is inching me towards the goal that I ‘may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.’

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