I wish there was an easy way to answer this. But there isn't. And I guess that's what makes life so mysterious. It's really hard to look back at decades upon centuries upon millenniums of history and conclude what the meaning of life is.

But maybe I should backtrack a bit. I was struck by this question by my friend's blog entry. She asked why we are here. On this planet. And I really wanted to answer that for her, except it's almost impossible to do so within a short period of time. Maybe the main problem is that it took me nearly 16 years to find the answer. And trust me, I made sure that the answer was tried, tested and true. As a Christian, I believe that we are here because God put us here. He made us in His own image and gave us life to please Him. Now, a lot of people who read this will go, whoa...I'm not here for anyone's pleasure but my own. I'm not going to be controlled by something that might not even exist.

Oh, but He does exist. And to tell you the truth, the world needs God more than ever. Now, I'm not saying God needs to come to the people more. WE need to come to HIM more.

Nowadays, people are so caught up in self-centered-ness. I'm not saying completely selfish or anything. But we focus so much on the "ME" and the "I", that we sometimes forget that when you live for others, it doesn't really take away from yourself. As long as you are doing it for the right reasons. Anyone can contaminate a good cause. How many examples have we seen of people taking advantage of their high social positions, or not understanding the influence they have on others? Corrupt governments that were initially created to serve the people. Celebrities who do drugs or become hardcore partiers, who were supposed to be good role models. Even pastors who have taken church money. What is the connecting factor here? Self-centred-ness. People doing things because it benefits them. People want to get ahead success wise. Or they just want to have fun, no matter who is hurt, or left at home worrying about them.

I'm not going to say I'm not guilty either. I am. We all are guilty. I admit, I spend time on MY studies, so I can get a good education, so I will be successful, so I can get all the things I want. ME ME ME. It's kind of shameful now that I think about it. Am I really joining that non-profit organization because I want to help, or because it looks really good on scholarship applications, or resumes? I have to be so careful nowadays. The media has brainwashed us into thinking that wanting more things, and focussing on ourselves is a good thing. Yes, we do need to think about ourselves a bit. We do need to make sure we eat and are healthy. But rather than thinking about what more we can do for ourselves, I think we need to think about what we can do for others, or the environment, or about the world in general. After all, there are at least 6 billion other people on this planet. Not to mention the millions of species of animals and plants.

And if you think about it, the world is really messed up now. Sure, the life expectancy is way higher now than back in the Middle Ages. Infant mortality rates have gone down, so people dont have to have like 6 children in case some of them die. The world is much more advanced technologically wise. But in this advancement, we have begun to believe that we are self-sufficient. We don't need anyone but ourselves. We can do everything. But we can't.

Wars. Famine. Extreme poverty. Epidemics. Economic recessions. Sexual predators. Child molestors. Repeat offenders. Drug dealers. Serial killers. Are we really okay on our own?

People nowadays say "If God is here, why doesn't He help us now?". But the thing is, we have rejected him from our lives. How then is he supposed to help us, if most of us don't believe in Him in normal times, let alone times of crisis? God is not a God of Convenience. He is not our fairy godmother, here to save us only when we need help, but non-existent whenever things are going our way. God didn't leave us. We left Him. We told God we didn't want Him here when countries forbid prayer in school. Prayer is not dangerous to innocent people. People normally pray to bless people, or to help others. Is that not a positive thing? Yet in the US, some woman petitioned for the prohibition of prayer in school. And won. A lady I know was a music teacher at an elementary school. When organizing the annual Christmas pageant, two parents came up to her and told her they would not permit anything Christian in the Christmas pageant. Because of two people, nothing Christian was allowed in the pageant. No traditional nativity scene. No "Away in a Manger." Christmas came from Christianity. And they are not allowed to have anything Christian involved with Christmas???

Christians are persecuted in many areas of the Middle East and Asia. And people have the gall to ask why God doesn't help us? He is a gentleman. He will not enter anywhere He is not welcome. Yet He still loves us. He has promised us that He will never leave us. He is always waiting for us to open our hearts to him. Then He can come in and show us what wonders He can do.

I know a lot of people don't want to be involved with religion because of all the rules. The rituals. The Bible. That big book of stuff we have to follow. But what many people don't realize, is that Christianity is not really all about the rules. Christianity is about the personal relationship you have with God. That's what makes the Christian faith so different from other religions. My faith is not a religion. It is a relationship with God, who sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ to die for me, and everyone who has lived, is living or has yet to live.

It took me over 15 years to realize that. It is the RELATIONSHIP that matters. Rules and regulations all fall into place after we follow two simple rules:
1) Love God with ALL your heart, your soul, and mind
2) Love your neighbor as yourself.
whoa...there's still rules? Even two of them?

Yes. But when you take a relationship with God seriously, these two "rules" happen. When you accept God/Jesus into your heart, you are saying "I want to know more about You, I want to learn to love You because I know that loving just myself and the material things of the world isn't enough to satisfy me." As you learn more about God, and you grow in your relationship, you start to love Him more. And you start to love people more, because God also created them. After this, all the rules fall into place. The Ten Commandments? Let's see...Do Not Murder, for example. If you love God, and you love others, will you really want to kill someone? No.

But wait, here comes another problem. In creating this relationship, you must confess your sins and admit your problems. Now you wants to admit they're wrong? Who wants to bring up the deep, dark secrets they've been hiding away from everyone? Repentance is not meant to humiliate people, but to humble them. There is a huge difference. How are you supposed to fix a problem you won't admit exists? If you keep saying that you have no problems, eventually you start believing you don't have problems. But then, it gets harder to figure out why you feel like there's something wrong with you. I'm not saying that everyone is hiding a huge sin like murder or adultery. But in the eyes of God, there is no large or small sin. Sin is sin. Whether it's lying or not obeying your parents, it's all the same to God. It is still sin. But it's not something that cannot be fixed. All we have to do is admit we're not perfect. I have to make sure I break my stubborn pride and admit that I've done wrong. I've said things I shouldn't have said. I've done things I shouldn't have done. But when I am genuinely willing to admit my faults and make sure they don't happen again, I end up feeling much better. And I get stronger.

I hope those of you who read this will understand. It's been a long entry I know. But I pray that this will help clear up some questions some of you have. If you managed to make it through this whole thing, I applaud you.

Just remember, it's not too late to turn back to God. It's never too late.

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.