Thank you for all you do to please God! My prayers are with you.

4 Questions…
Our journey begins with what I regard as the 4 Existential Questions of Life. The word “existential” comes from the Latin existentialis, which relates to existence and is directly associated to a form of philosophy called Existentialism. Philosophers of this particular type explore questions that relate to the meaning and purpose of human existence. In my journey through life, and perhaps in your journey, too, the existential questions have been immensely important. In my view, without meaningful answers to these questions, life is hollow and ultimately leads to a dead end. I need and want much more to life than a dead end. Don’t you?
Question #1 – Who am I? (Identity) – What is the meaning of life?
I have heard it said that you cannot know who you are until you know whose you are. Consider adopted children with an unrelenting desire to meet their biological parents. Even for those raised by loving families and treated exactly the same as their natural born brothers and sisters, some adopted children are unsettled in themselves until they connect personally with a birth mother and/or father. It’s a matter of identity. Ultimately, as human beings made in the image of God, our deepest sense of identity is unfulfilled until we relate personally with our heavenly Father. In his Confessions (A.D. 397-400), Augustine spoke for all humanity when he wrote, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” This is the existential starting point, because until we answer the question of identity, life has no depth of meaning.
Question #2 – Why am I here? (Utility) – What is the purpose of life?
During your formative years, how often did family members, friends, teachers and the like ask you this question: What do you want to be when you grow up? The question is actually misleading, because people typically expect to get answers that go like this: I want to be a doctor or nurse or teacher or scientist (top childhood dream jobs in 2022). Such responses are career fields, which are “do” and not “be” oriented. The things we do in life may change many times, but the person we become is a much deeper subject. With regard to the various jobs we may have over the years, we have this directive from the Bible: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” (Colossians 3:23, NIV). With regard to what the Father wants us to be in life, He wants us to be like His Son, Jesus, pure and simple. That is our purpose.
Question #3 – Where am I going? (Destiny) – What is the goal of life?
I have always been a destination-oriented guy, so whether the goal is a particular task or a particular place, my focus is on getting there and then moving on. Although I get a lot done, the experience is anticlimactic because one goal is immediately followed by another with no time to pause, reflect and enjoy the moment. It’s my predisposition, but if I’m willing, I can learn a better way. The “better way” came to me when I was leaving one military assignment for another. A civilian volunteer who ministered to soldiers bid farewell to me with a very simple but very meaningful gift. It was a block of wood with these words inscribed on it: The Journey is the Reward. The goal of life for believers is not comprised of our achievements along the way but our relationship with the Way – Jesus. He is our destiny and the ultimate goal of life itself. Not a place, but a Person.
Question #4 – How do I get there? (Morality) – What is the way of life?
The statement by Jesus, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6, NAS), is either true or it is not. How we answer that question determines our way of life, which is just another word for morality. If Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, then His morality is the pattern for every believer in Him. Questions 3 and 4 are inextricably connected, because both the goal and way of life are found in Jesus alone. A lifestyle (morality) like Christ that honors both Father and Son is rooted in a life in Christ that comes by God’s grace and through our faith. Therefore, to walk in the way of Jesus requires us to walk with Jesus, step-by-step and day-by-day…