The Greek philosopher Socrates noted; the unexamined life is not worth living if we fail to seek our life’s purpose. He penned, we spend our lives pursuing various goals—money, ambition, possessions, pleasure, and physical security—without questioning if these are important, and if they are, how should they rank in priority?
Another quote attributed to Socrates: “I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only encourage them to think.” This reflects a core principle of his teaching method known as the Socratic Method, and it may be Socrates’ most enduring contribution to guiding principles of both thought and behaviour. Rather than directly imparting knowledge, Socrates engaged his students in dialogue, asking probing questions that led them to examine their own beliefs and arrive at conclusions through critical thinking. This approach was based on the idea that true understanding comes not from being told what to think, but from discovering the truth for oneself. Socrates believed that by encouraging his students to think deeply and question their assumptions, they could achieve a more profound and lasting understanding of not only the world, but their role in it. Although there may be variations on the exact quoted phrase the fundamental point is, it captures the essence of how he thought best to teach and his emphasis on the importance of self-reflection and intellectual independence which we can all learn from.
We are all on a journey and the road is called life; along the way we make a series of choices regarding our spiritual wellbeing, and the decisions we make shape the direction of our journey. Most choices, big or small build on each other and cumulatively carries weight; influencing not only our immediacy and our future, but our forever after. I want to encourage you to live an intentional life. Choices made with intention gives our life purpose.
Unfortunately for us, we live in a time where global security is tenuous so there is an urgency in how we should live. Some of the world’s greatest minds continually warn that our world remains the closest it has ever been to the symbolic hour of the apocalypse with the Doomsday Clock set at 85 seconds to midnight. While an interesting theory, it will be of no personal benefit for you and me. There is nothing we can individually do to arrest the advance of the end of the world, yet there is something we can do to secure our relationship with the living God.
If the predictions are right, then all of us are destined to undergo a revolutionary change—my book Lessons for Living will hopefully be your survival kit to enter futurity. I wrote this book to turn the reader to God not a human intermediatory or necessarily the Church. I understand the need for intermediaries in all their capacities, but I am also cognisant of the fact that each of us, Christian and non-Christian alike; whether we fully understand it or not, are already living in a war zone; a spiritual war zone. An ongoing contest for your soul, for my soul and the soul of thousands, and the god of this world will use whatever means possible including any human intermediary to keep each of us away from wanting or progressing a relationship with God.
The Christian apostle Paul, considered to be the most important person in the Church-age period apart from Jesus wrote in his letter to those in Ephesus; we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world; princes of darkness, huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world who rule this planet Earth, attempting to direct the course of our life!
Why do some of us believe in such things, why do we believe in the things we cannot see, or concepts we don’t fully understand? It is not only a Christian trait; all of us live by faith and not evidential proof to varying degrees—we all choose some and not others. We believe in the existence of energy and matter that makes up 95% of our Universe because scientists tell us that it exists! We believe in the finely-tuned, life-supporting constants that allow life on Earth to exist. We believe in life energy that flows through all living things including you and me for everything we do. We believe in time and gravity even though both are non-physical because we can feel the effects of gravity on our body riding a bike up a subtle but definite incline, its unseen forces work against our forward motion set to impede our progress.
Become an advocate of Socrates’ thinking, commit to the importance of self-reflection and intellectual independence, discover the truth for yourself independent of another. God has set the stage for our life story to be acted out on, and with the gift of a free will, it is up to each of us to decide what role we want to play during this probationary period we call life. He has also placed within every one of us a law of the universe—it’s called the law of perpetual transformation. The ability to change our circumstances—the capacity to change our thoughts—to improve our spiritual wellness if we have a desire to do so. To give our life meaning and a real purpose toward futurity. To experience life in a way our participation was always meant to be and potentially; venture through this roller coaster ride called life, adding value to who we are for our eternal betterment.
The Bible sets out God’s Calendar for this world and it details how life on Earth will end. Currently we are in the Church-age period, a time reflecting God’s grace and patient endurance. How long will this period of grace last? Nobody knows, its duration is hidden with God even though some so-called Christian teachers attempt to capitalise on the subject to further their own esteem, pay no attention. This period gives each of us the opportunity to improve our lives spiritually; to seek God, enact personal salvation by a confession of faith in Jesus Christ and to work towards Christ-likeness before it’s too late.
Life’s choices shape who we are and who we want to become. By approaching decisions with thoughtfulness, wisdom, and faith, hopefully we can navigate the complexities of life with self-reflection, intellectual independence, and purpose.
God is continually calling each and every one of us, he gives everybody the opportunity to turn to him. Some ignore the quiet prompting; some rebel against it; others concede and are born-again spiritually. Time is short, eternity is long; get to know the primary thrust of the Bible (the most popular book in history), before you meet its Author!