Why Are We Here? 

   “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” (St. Augustine, “Confessions”) 

   Why are we here, why did God make us?  The Baltimore Catechism tells us He made us, “to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in Heaven.”  While the words offer a simple explanation, they also contain all that is needed to understand why we are here.  If we know Him we will also love Him and by extension, our neighbor; if we love Him we will desire to serve Him; and if we know, love, and serve Him in life, we will be with Him in His heavenly kingdom.  In a nutshell, that is why we are here.

   C. S. Lewis wrote, “Human history is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make Him happy.”  Mankind has tried forever to define and find happiness but have and will continue to fail.  Refusal to acknowledge that happiness can only be found in God blinds society to the truth.  Money, fame, enjoyment of an earthly nature will never explain our purpose or bring us happiness, they only cloud our thinking.

   We may find some pleasure in the world, but it is temporary and often sinful in nature.  We may find some joy, but it also will not last.  Unless we look to God as the source of all joy and happiness, the cause of all inner peace and comfort, we will never know why we are here.