The Meaning Of Life

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/2_samuel/7.htm

The Canaanites that occupied “the Promised Land”, the land God gave to the Hebrews, we pagans. They all had came from Noah, but like Esau who was angry about his birthright and married a Canaanite woman just to spite Isaac, that side of the family tree left God, distanced themselves from Him. There were no Bibles in those days; the Word of God was passed down verbally from generation to generation. The Ten Commandments were locked away in the ark and no one was worthy enough to get them, and they weren’t following God’s laws about having sanctified Levites manage the ark. And as we will learn later, the writings of Moses, all of the customary laws and traditions had been lost. Today, we have written Bibles that document what God expects from us, and we can always rely on that…but back then, you had to rely on your elders for the Word, and they weren’t very informative.

So the Canaanites began building altars to other gods like Baal, sacrificing to those gods, and even sacrificing children in hopes their gods would make their life better. But their made-up gods didn’t exist. While it is not documented, I have no doubt God tried His best to get the Canaanites to return to Him, to follow Him, to be good and righteous people. But just like those who perished in the flood, just like those who occupied Sodom and Gomorrah, they didn’t listen. And God couldn’t let them continue to sacrifice His children.

God instructed Moses and the children of Israel, to overtake the land of Canaan, and to move all of the pagans out of the land so Godly people like the Hebrews could occupy it. But if you remember correctly, they failed to do so. They began intermingling with the pagans, marrying pagan women, and as such, taking on pagan practices. I’m sure you’ve been told, and if you haven’t, shame on your pastor, but it is very important that if you marry, you marry someone of faith, someone that shares the same Biblical beliefs as you, so you don’t stray away from your commitment to God. And the children of Israel failed to follow that practice.

As a result, there was war, and war, and more war. The judges all fought wars; Gideon fought the Midianites, Deborah fought the Philistines, Samson fought the Philistines, and even after Israel demanded a king, Saul fought the Philistines and the Amalekites and the Amorites. And as such, David fought many wars.

Now David has become the King of Israel, and he wants to built a temple for the Ark of the Covenant, which was still be housed in a mobile tent. But through prayer and through his prophet Nathan, David found out that God didn’t want David to build the temple. Even though David was a man of God, who was faithful and prayed to God, seeking God’s Will, David was still a man of war, and God wanted His Temple to be built during a time of peace. His Temple was to be a Holy place where the children of Israel could come and pray and worship.

Now God has made many covenants with His people. There were the Adamic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, and now, He is making a covenant with David, the Davidic Covenant. And just like Abraham, God tells David that his seed will continue to rule over Israel forever, and that it will eventually lead to a Messiah. Furthermore, He tells David that David will have a son whose job it will be to build the Temple.

Yes, David was a man of great faith. David slew the giant Goliath as a boy, when all of Saul’s army were afraid; David knew God would be on his side. And God took David from the fields as a shepherd boy and made him king, but it wasn’t God’s Will for hi to build a temple. God’s Will will be done, even if you are King David.

As we go through life, there will be many things we want, many accomplishments we wish to make, many life decisions that will be in our best interest. But in the end, our lives will be as God wants them to be.

I wanted to be a fireman since I was 4 or 5 years old, and while I cannot think of any specific incident which stands out, making me a “hero”, I’m sure it was God’s Will that led me to be a fireman, and regardless of how minor it might have been, I’m sure God led me to do something during that 18 years of service to fulfill His Will.

And today, my wife has passed five years now, leaving me to care for three special needs adults. That was the last thing on my mind, the last thing I desired. My wife had always promised me that as soon as our children were grown and gone, she would stop foster care and we could finally enjoy our lives together as a couple, something we never got to do. But her desire to care for others outweighed mine, and as in most cases, the wife won. While I never admitted it to her while she was alive, it was always my plan that if she passed first (and that wasn’t in my plan either…I was going to go first), I would give up the fosters and live my own life, enjoying my retirement. But when the time came to do that, I couldn’t. It wasn’t God’s Will. And in all honesty, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I had anyway.

These three are not only mentally handicapped, but they have severe behavior disorders. My house is a combination of a nursing home and a prison. My carpet has been stained with blood and urine. They test me continually, through no fault of their own, each were abused. And because of their mental handicaps, they are unable to express their feelings, to get the anger of their abuse out of their system, so they frequently take it out on me. And many times, I wonder why I do it. But then I remember, it is God’s Will. For whatever reason, He has chosen me for this task, and while my mind wants to give up, somehow He has planted in my heart so that I can’t give up.

And that is how God’s Will works. David wanted to build a temple and God said “no”. I wanted to live my life along and enjoy my retirement, and God has said “no”. And I have to laugh about it. I do not have the desire to do this, I don’t have the patience, I don’t have the temperament. But God, for whatever reason, has chosen me, and I don’t have a choice.

Forgive me for rambling. Just understand that our purpose in life is to serve God in whatever capacity He assigns us. Some of us are medical doctors which, through their hands, God heals the sick. Some are simply ditch diggers whose job it is to lay pipes underground to provide us with clean and sanitary drinking water for good health. We never know…just go with the flow.

And praise God for giving us a purpose. Otherwise, we might not be here.