“So it may be said that the chief purpose of life, for any one of us, is to increase according to our capacity our knowledge of God by all the means we have, and to be moved by it to praise and thanks.” (J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 310). God created everything. This means that literally everything in this whole world or outside of it - a dew-covered rose, an ant crawling up the wall, our next door neighbor, the faint gleam of the Andromeda galaxy in the night sky - all of it was made by God and we can learn more about Him from any and all of these things and more. The more fully we pay attention to and study and seek to understand about the world and all of those who live in it, the more glimpses of God and the more insights into His plan for us we will attain. And the more and deeper we look for God, the more our capacity to find Him will be refined and increased. Greater knowledge will lead to greater appreciation of everything that God has done and is currently seeking to do to bless the lives of His children and bring them safely home. We may already feel that we have many reasons to praise and give thanks to God for all of His tender mercies on our behalf. But we don't know the half of it. Not yet. There are so many good things that we take for granted or go over our head, and also so many things that at present seem horrible and cruel, but that we will grow to understand were the absolute best things for us. What else could possibly be the main purpose of our existence, both here and now and on into the eternities but to know and love God and Jesus Christ so that we may praise and thank Them forever? I hope that we will never feel like we have learned enough about God but we will always be looking for more and more opportunities to increase our knowledge and our adoration and our gratitude for our Heavenly Father.
