Purpose of Life

In our life, we should know who we really are and what we are capable of. Only then, we should make a decision about our purpose of life.

Once, there was a young man who grew up in a house where both his mother and father were farmers. His mother’s parents were also farmers as were his father’s parents, and in this way, it went for all their family history. The young man thought that since the occupation of his family was farming, so he should also adopt the same occupation. And with this as the goal, he lived his life- waking up early and going to the field in order to take care of the farm, learning and doing all sorts of farming tasks, and excelling in the same. For years together, this continued to be the pattern of his life, which he enjoyed as well.

One day, the king’s guards appeared at the farm. Upon witnessing their unexpected arrival at his farm, the young farmer asked them the reason for their coming. The guards said that they were looking for the son of the king. ‘King’s son… Here?’- asked the man surprisingly. The guards explained that a long time back, as a baby, the son of the king had been sent to this farm; the reason was to keep him protected from enemies who wanted to seize the king’s throne and, therefore, tried to kill the king’s son too.

So, the young man realised that he was actually the king’s son and was to be the future king. All the goals he had set for his life were decided upon the notion that he was the son of a farmer. However, in reality, he was the son of a king. Hence, all those years spent learning farming methods were useless because now he would be asked to rule over the country, and for this, he had no preparation. All his life, he considered himself to be a lowly man, of no importance. But actually, he was the heir to the throne.

Like that young man, we are also oblivious of our true identity. All holy scriptures, brought down to man from divine inspiration, have confessed that the human form is the form most adored by God. It is deemed as the one and only medium through which God can be felt, heard, and seen. As says Job (19:26)- And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God. Here the man, Job, is referring to the fact that in this flesh (the body, which although is constantly decaying and deteriorating), he sees God.

But have we ever pondered over the goal that we have set for our lives? Did we ever try to understand why our life is so important? Is it because we have the freedom to do whatever we want? Is our life important because we can climb mountains, build huge buildings, or because we are capable of destroying the earth? Many people dedicate their whole lives to a job or to learning about a certain subject. As humans, we are capable of learning many things. However, even if we were to learn everything present in the world, still, we would not have accomplished a great feat. We are very much like that young man who thought he was just a simple farmer but was, in reality, the son of a king and heir to the throne.

Today, we believe we are just common people, and we give ourselves regular goals of materialistic life. But, it is said in the Bible, “There is one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” It also says, “God made man in His own image.” Truly, our real nature is that of divinity. God is within us, but, because we are not aware of this, we employ all our time in trivial issues of the world, which will not last. Like the farming skills of the man were useless to him as a prince, similarly the skills of this world are of no use to our true self, which is a part and parcel of God. That is why, it is said in the Bible: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.”

Therefore, if we use this life for any purpose, then it should be according to what we are capable of. And if we are capable of realising God within ourselves, then we must attend to this higher purpose. Moreover, the Bible clearly says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all else will be given to you.” Meaning that, by realizing God, we do not lose any other part of our life but, instead, our life is made complete with the prime aim successfully accomplished!