"we were meant to live for so much more..."

so, all apologies for my lack of blogging. somehow I've gotten sucked into myspace and ended up blogging there lately........it was more convenient....that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it. On a different note, I've been listening to the new switchfoot cd, which I really like. I started reading ecclesiastes this morning, (woo-hoo, I have a saturday off work, how did that happen?? ) and thinking about how it's supposed to show us how pointless everything is without God......And as I'm reading, I'm thinking ( not really anything I haven't thought before, but still important) anyways, to keep things short, I think a lot of times we get caught up in life, we think about all these simple or possibly complicated things we think need done, but we forget why they are important or why we even bother doing them. It's like we still acknowledge God in our life, still remember why we live, but we've left him out of the smaller things, if you get me, which really means he's not so much in the bigger things as we think make ourselves think he is. Take an example- we work, or go to school, why? because if it's for the sake of it, or if it's only for enjoyment where's the purpose in that? Ok, so say you're going to school to get an education because you need that education to do something you feel God wants you to do. say you have to work for that education, say you have to save money for that education, - all this results from doing what God wants you to do. The thing is , we forget that. We need a job because we need money, we need money so we can go to school, we need school so we can do whatever it was we thought God wanted us to do (this is just an example) notice God only comes into the picture at the end of the sentence even though he was in effect, the underlying cause of it all. So, maybe instead, we work, because it is an opportunity to do many things at once, - to show others God's love, to be an example of working for something, etc... maybe we use our money in a way..... you get the picture? oh, and to use a verse that most everyone has heard, probably loads of times, This is what life is all about: He said to him, "what is written in the law? What do you read there?" He answered, "You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And he siad to him, "you have given the right answer; do this, and you will live. " Jesus proceeded to tell the story of the good samaritan. But this is why I bring up this verse, crazy though it may seem to other people, this is why we are here. We have this mindset that we are here to be successful, to be famous, to live a good life, to have a family, etc... nothing is wrong with these things, but, they aren't the reason we are here. We think it's foolish when people don't go to college, or when they have a certain job, or when we don't consider what they do successful. And really, quite honestly, I think a lot of times real christians look like idiots to other people,because what they are doing doesn't make any sense to their mindset. That's because our goals or our reasons for living are in conflict. We live to love God and to love others, let this be our goal in life, nothing else really matters. It encompasses everything.