What is life in essence? Certainly, life is more than a simple existence. People could exist and wish they never do. And unfortunately, that is often the situation of so many people especially in our society today where people look for the meaning of life from wrong places and things. Life in essence is purpose, peace, joy, rest of mind, good health, a sense of worthiness and fulfilment among others. These are the basic desires of every man. Such desires are inherent in human nature.
Unfortunately, some, if not most people do not get to realize this fundamental need of man. This is usually because of the confusion and distortion in the sinful nature of man that makes the choice of the essential from the inessential difficult. Consequentially, men looked to material things to fill the void inside their hearts. They acquire material things as much as they could get, and all the accolades and prestige as they desire. But the more they acquire all these things, the more they realize that these things are empty and cannot satisfy the desires of their hearts.
The utmost desires of our hearts can only be satisfied by the life from within us. The world and all it offers cannot relieve us from the perpetual longing for purposefulness. The human soul is eternal while the world and all in it are floating and perishing, and so, the heart cannot be staked on it (1 John 2:15-17). It is deceptive and nothing more than a mere futility to seek life from the world.
When we look within us who and what do we see? We see God, His Word, and man. God is always present with an outstretched arm of love to call a sinner back home to Himself (Isaiah 65:1-2; Revelation ). A true meditation and reflection on life and nature generally always result in the realization that there is a Super-Power behind life and everything. And this further indicates that life is ultimately centered around God. God, from whose image He has created us, made us to fellowship with Him, and until we seek and unite with Him, life will never discover its ultimate purpose of existence. We also crave the love and acceptance of fellow human beings because we are created to complement each other. However, true human relationships depend on our relationship with God.
It is, therefore, imperative to note that solitude is a habit that must be cultivated. This may abrogate the contemporary Christian practices that settle only for public activities and shun the discipline of solitary worship. We must come by ourselves and to ourselves as we search our hearts, look within in prayer, study and meditate on the scripture, and then tune to God for meaning and eternal life. There is no life out there in the world. Real life lies within us. When we zoom out to the world for life, life zooms out of us, but when we zoom in for life, everything about life zooms in to us. There is life that flows from within when we are connected to God. This, we cannot find elsewhere and any other way apart from personal fellowship with God (John 6:35, 40). In the solitary place with God, we receive strength for a victorious life.