Man’s Chief End

Do you ever wonder what the main goal of your life should be? If you are a christian,

then the answer should be easy, but in the sinfulness of our human nature, we sometimes forget.

Our main goal in life is to seek to bring glory to God through everything we do. Psalm 16:11 says,

“You have made known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your

right hand are pleasures forevermore.

” This means that God is showing us the right way to go-

the path of life- and that when we obey Him and stay beside Him, it will bring us joy in doing so.

Answer one of the Shorter Westminster Catechism says,

“Man’s chief end is to glorify

God and enjoy him forever.

” Before we go any further, here is an explanation of what the

Westminster Shorter Catechism is so nobody gets confused- it was written in the 1600s by the

Westminster Assembly, who were a group of men commissioned to reform the Church of

England. They wrote the shorter catechism during the English Civil War, and it was meant to

help teach children and members of the church about Christianity amid a time of debating over

faith and doctrine. That being said, a catechism is by no means supposed to be a replacement for

the Bible, rather, it is a teaching tool, each question and answer fully supported by scripture

references.

Psalm 16:11 is actually one of the scripture references for the featured catechism

question, which provides so much more clarity. When we glorify God, we are doing it joyfully- it

would be impossible to glorify God in a begrudging, negative way. When we are walking with

God, we know that everything is right, and we are able to be truly happy, because we are

enjoying His goodness. When we enjoy God, we bring Him glory.

One thing we should not forget, or else our sinful pride will slide right in and take over, is

that we did nothing to earn God’s love. He chose us merely out of His own good pleasure before

we were even conceived. What an overwhelming thought to know that God chose to bring you

and I into His flock, when we deserved death.

In conclusion, our chief end (main purpose) is to glorify God, and then enjoy Him

forever. God has given us clear instructions for how to live; He has shown us the path of life, and

as we follow it, we take joy in bringing God the glory He deserves.

-Dale

Matthew 13:31-32 devotional

 Matthew 13:31-32 says:

Another parable put he forth to them, saying "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds:

but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof."

In this parable Jesus talks compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a mustard seed. A mustard seed was the smallest seed known to the Israelites, measuring only 1-2 millimeters long. 

The Man is Jesus and the field is the World. Jesus took the Kingdom of Heaven and brought it to Earth, where it was seen as insignificant at first. It took decades for the Romans to even recognize Christianity as its own religion, originally thinking it was just a sect of Judaism: It was the smallest of all religions. 

 But the mustard plant grows very fast, reaching heights of up to 12 feet in just a few months. In the Roman Empire, it became the most practised religion by 400 ad. Now it is the most practised religion worldwide, and unlike many religions, it has relatively little history of forced conversions. In other words, it is the greatest among the herbs. 

 The birds of the air are believers, and God planted the mustard tree for us to live in.

Four Myths About the Bible

Here are some of the common myths about the Bible, which as Christians we need to be

aware of especially if we get into an argument. Please note I have tried to remain as

unbiased as possible.

One: The Bible is to be taken literally all the time.

Two: The new testament changes everything and the rules of the old testament can

be ignored since Jesus died for us.

Three: Jesus was a Christain.

Four: There are no other gods and these are all fake and products of imagination.

Okay lets dive in. One; The Bible is to be taken literally all the time.

Firstly there is a surprising amount of the Christian population that believes this

myth so it is important that we look at this phenomenon in greater depth.

When you think about it, the Bible is not really one book; it is, in fact, a

conglomeration of many literary styles and authors living in different time periods. Some

parts of the Bible are to be taken literally, like the resurrection of Jesus, while others are

merely devices used to help the story.

For instance we are told in verse 12:37 of Exodus that the number of Israelites

leaving Egypt numbered 600 thousand men. At first glance this passage simply seems

like a hard fact and another boring number.

However this is noted by scholars to be a literary device popular at that time. It

was often used to bring glory to the nation’s god or king and the Bible using this showed

that the Israelite nation had vanquished Egypt with G-d’s help. It also signaled that the

promise to make Abraham a nation larger than all the others was in the process of being

fulfilled.

Alright, now to address the second misconception. The new testament changes

everything and the rules of the old testament can be ignored since Jesus died for us.Here is the thing; if you think that the new testament cancels out the old then you need

some time to reflect and think. The old testament is vital to the story of humanity and our

struggle, the new testament is merely the completion of that. If we completely forgot the

old testament we would have to say that we don't truly believe in the Bible.

Now that we have cleared those two points up we shall move onward. Third: Jesus was

a Christain.

This is just a plain myth. Jesus was Jewish and looked like it. Not like those pictures you

see in kid’s stories where he looks like a white European man with brown hair. He most

likely had dark curly hair and was olive toned due to the region’s ethnic population. Also

the Bible literally says he was part of the line of King David (another reason we can not

disregard the old testament, God promised he would never let David’s line die out, and

Jesus was actually of that family lineage).

Jesus did not even start Christianity. What we believe today would have been

categorized as Judaism at first. Christinity was founded in around 70 AD and became a

separate entity when the destruction of the second temple occurred.

Four: There are no other gods and these are all fake and products of imagination.

It has often surprised me that while we believe in a god ourselves ( the one true

G-d) we often dismiss all the gods of other cultures and say they did not exist, they are

figments of the ancient people's imagination, and they were stupid and ignorant and just

didn't know any better. This is the exact thing some non-believers will say about

Christians.

I am not saying that the specific gods of Egypt, Greece, China, South America and

other countries exist in those specific forms but if you believe in the Bible then it is clear

that other spirits exist.

Obviously they should not be worshiped and are vastly inferior to G-D but they do

exist. Here are some verses that might make things clearer.

Psalm 82:1 – God takes His stand in the divine assembly; He judges in the midst of the

gods (elohim).

Psalm 89:5–7 – Asks who in the skies compares to the Lord, describing Him as feared

in the council of the holy ones.1 Kings 22:19–22 – The prophet Micaiah sees the Lord sitting on His throne with all the

host of heaven standing around Him.

As we can see other supernatural beings exist and we must know how to deal with

them according to G-d’s Word. I hope this shows what a few common myths about the

Bible look like and how to explain them to those who might need more clarity