What is our purpose in life? To sum it up, it is to live through this mortal life righteously, to experience and learn all that we can, and to live eternally with our Heavenly Father. We follow the Gospel, love one another, and we endure to the end.
1 Nephi 22:31
“Wherefore, if ye shall be obedient to the commandments, and endure to the end, ye shall be saved at the last day”
There’s a story which I really like and want to share.
There was a father who wanted to pass down his business to one of his three sons for when his time comes, but didn’t know who would best maintain the kingdom he built. So he told them to look at the tree in the distance and walk towards it. Whoever walks the straightest path will inherit his kingdom.
The eldest, full of confidence, began his journey. He would turn around to face his father and siblings, look at the nice scenery around him, and when he reached the tree and turned back to look at the ground, he realised he had walked all over the place.
The second son thought he’d be smart and decided to be careful by watching each step he took. He would take one, then another, and another, carefully treading towards the tree. When he looked up to see how he was going, he had gone astray.
The youngest of the three kept his sight on the tree and started walking towards it. Sometimes he would stumble, but would regain himself and continue walking. When he reached the tree and looked back, he had the straightest path.
All of us are unique individuals with different attributes and abilities and some of us probably have one or more mentioned in the story. We all set different goals in our life, but we should all have one common purpose in life. Their goal was to reach the tree and their purpose was to inherit their father’s kingdom.
What is your purpose in life?
No matter what position in life we’re in and decisions we have to make, it should always be centred on our purpose in life.
In our lives, we may see amazing things and, or, set amazing goals to achieve, but we need to be careful not to let these distract us or we will stray from our path numerous times before reaching our goal, just like the eldest son. The things we do should orientate around our purpose in life so that we may reach that tree.
Alma 37:45
“The words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise”
If we constantly hold control of our lives and plan everything to detail for what we need to do, sometimes we lose sight of the tree and go astray, like the second son. God knows what we need in our lives, what we need to do, and how we do it. If we do not heed to His Holy Spirit, He cannot help walk us the right direction. We will found ourselves in various situations without a clue how we got there. What we need to do is to stop, reflect, and the Holy Ghost will provide us with the solution we need to get back on track.
2 Nephi 4:34
“O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.”
The most important thing is that we need to keep our eyesight on the tree as much as we can, that sometimes we may stumble and make mistakes, but we need to get back up, and continue walking towards the tree. Just as the youngest son, we have a purpose, set a goal, stick to it, and not let distractions get in our way or wander off.
2 Nephi 31:18
“And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life”
I know that we can all reach that tree. My purpose in life is to live the Gospel, to spend more time with my family, and my friends. I have set goals that I want to achieve so that I can fulfil these purposes. I know God will help me and I will never know what to expect, but I know I should keep my head up and always look at that tree, grasp hold of that tree, and continue through that path for that purpose. It’s not to say we cannot have our own desires and goals we want to achieve, but we should make one of those desires to be with God. And I know that if we all do the same, we will flourish and have that one eternal purpose in our lives.
And I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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