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fer. J ust such a thi ng ha ppened to
forme r as trona ut Buzz Aldrin. Be–
fo re he jo urneyed Lo the moon, he
was in a constan! upward spiral
towa rd a goa l. But a fter returning to
earth. he fo und himse lf deeply de–
pressed as he searched for a new
directio n a nd purpose in life.
It
was
not until he fou nd new goa ls fo r h is
li fe tha t he regained his former zes t
fo r living.
This in a nutshell is t he human
story. lt's no t enough just to accom–
plish something. Life must have a
constan!, continuing purpose . Yo u
mus t be committed to a cause. Fo r
sorne the "cause" is amassing as
much mo ney as o ne possibly can .
So rne a re committed simply to sur–
viva l. o r the ir own conceptio n of
identity o r worth. So rne wa nt fam e
or g lo ry. Liv ing Life by acciden t
withou t si ngleness of commitment
a nd a la rger goa l ca uses many
peo pl e to lose direction , and this
ca uses t hem to wonde r, "Who am
I?"
Once we und ersta nd this, we can
understand why a successful ma n
Like Buzz Aldrin cou ld have been
beset with depress ion . We can see
why Madison Avenue execu tives
suddenly dro p o u t from t he whirli ng
world of activity and why ce lebrities
sho t into public awareness a nd ac–
cla im con tinu e to reaffirm their suc–
cess year a fter year.
Too Many Conflicting Commitments
Hav in g no c ommitm e nt l e a ves
emptiness, but hav ing too ma ny
confticting commitmen ts is equa lly
fr ustra ting and energy sapping. In
fact, life's dilemmas can be ex–
pla ined in terms o f commitment. So
you need to examine your life and
see if you a re overcommitted. Ask
yourse lf: Sho uld
1
commit my lífe to
a ca reer I don' t like for the chance
to rise in a n organiza tio n? Sho uld
1
commit my life lo my persona l
dreams, though they migh t be con–
sidered 10 be impractica l? Sho u ld [
sacr ifi ce my ma rr iage and my fa m–
ily fo r my persona l goals? Sho uld
1
le t my religion conft ict with my ca–
reer?
T hese confticts do n ' l even begin
to express the complexilies a nd con–
fusions that resu lt from the myr iad s
o f goals, wan ls, and desires tha t we
all have .
28
A comedia n once sa id, " Living is
ki l l ing me ." lndeed , life's com–
m itments come in gene ro us enough
po rtions to occupy a pe rso n full
time. So to insert the la rge r, mo re
compe lling questions o f why was
I
born, why is man here, and where
do
I
fit in lh c universa l scheme of
lhings is to add a disquieting ele–
me nt tha t o nly serves to diso rien t
most peopl e.
Solomon's Advice
Hedon ism and simi lar phi losop hi es
a re sometimes ma n 's a nswer to
these ques tio ns. But 1hose who look
at this life asan end in itself. even if
they are successful , musl s till face
So lomon 's quandary. So lomon real–
ized lha l, if you selfish ly comm il
your li fe to amassing riches for
yourself, you s till cannot enjoy more
th a n you a re a ble to use o r consume
yourse lf. And your wea lth will o ne
day be long to o thers who didn' t
wo rk to earn it.
Bul at the same time he recog–
nized the value in catapu lt ing you r
energies a nd resources into wha t–
ev er you have chosen as a goa l. He
knew tha t
the joy you derive from fu//
commilment
ís the g rea test .joy and
provides sa tisfaction in fuU mea–
su re. His adv ice is sti ll valid today:
"Whatever your hand fi nds to
do , do it with your might; for
there is no work or thought o r
knowledge or wisdom in Sheol
[the grave], to whic h you are
going " (E c clesias t es
9 : 10 ,
RSV).
The Most lmportant Commitment
Hebrews 2 shows th a l man wa
made "for a littl e whi le lower than
the ange ls" to be rule r o f his ea rth ly
do ma in. But then God a d ds a
grea ter cha ll enge . Gód says he
made man lo share God's heritage.
lo become a membe r of his fam ily,
and
10
inherit lhe uni vc r e. This he
describes as his real intention for
cr eatin g man in the firs t place .
God made life like it is, as com–
plex a nd cha llenging as it is, so we
could use o ur minds a nd order our
l ives, thus committ i ng o urse lves
comp le te ly to the grea te r purpose
for a ll huma ni ty - tha t o f deve l–
o pi ng God-like characte r. (Piease
req uest our free booklet enli tled
Why Were You Born?)
Eve ry o ther commitment fa lls
into place when you a re consumed
with this go al. Prior iti es a re simpler
and clearer.
When you rea lize tha t man 's col–
lecl ive " thi ng" is to deve lop the
cha rac te r of God and become a son
o f God . the re will a lways be tha t
d ivine spa rk with in you. moti va ting
you lo commit yourse lf to the very
reason you we re made. When you
consider the commitmen t that G od
olfers you and t he fac t thal you can
pursue most of li fe 's cha llenges all
the wh il e, it sho u ld make you pa use
a nd sel you r commitmenls in order.
Yes. you we re mad e to labor a nd
to enj oy life, but when your com–
mitment to God is no t given top
p r io rity , you a re go ing to be con–
fused a nd un happy to one degree or
ano ther.
T hro ug ho ut his h isto ry. ma n has
wasted h is ene rg ies and resources
whi le pursuing goals he shouldn't
have been ; he has been comm it ted
lo g hastly causes. gropi ng in the
d a rk for some kind of purposeful
ba la nce. And in spite of his elforts,
th at omni present enemy has a lways
loomed ahead - deat h . Fo r many
it 's too much, havi ng to face dea th
wit hout knowi ng th e purpose for
ha ving
Ji
ved .
But with the understandi ng of
man 's purpose comes the under–
sland ing a nd be lief in a resurrectio n
from deat h a nd a res loratio n to life.
The Bi ble declares in
1
Corint hians
15
and Revelation
20
tha t you do
no t have to view your existcnce as
o n ly temporary .
Yo u
can
find d irection in your
present l ife a nd a lso have the surg–
ing power and dynamic encrgy of
head ing toward you r transcendent
purpose.
You
can
find yourse lf as an indi–
vid ua l - you can fi nd your ta le nts,
your n eeds, and your p r íva t e
d rcams - if you a re fi rst willing
10
p r ioritize your commilments a nd
then put your most importan t goal
in fi rs t place.
For t he highcst peak. the top o f
t he moun tain. is to develop the
characte r of God. Why not head for
that peak wit h a burning pass ion
an d commi tmcnt? You'll be out of
th e rat race in lo the rea l race where
th e pe rsonal satisfact ion and ul ti–
ma te rewa rds are unsu rpasscd.
O
The
PLAIN TRUTH September 1976