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One of the early mornings, I was dropping off my kids at high school. On my way back, I saw an interesting scene on a car – there are a few pieces of giant black eyelash were sticking out of headlights of a Volkswagen. Due to the round dome design of the headlights, they look just like two giant eye balls with eyelashes. Wow, this is the first time I saw such an interesting and creative idea for a car. It does beautify the car even though it may not be practical or may be dangerous to other drivers on the road due to distraction.

Eyelash is a short stiff hair that grows in a row from the edge of the eyelid.  It provides at least two functions, one is beautifying and the other is protection. Ladies would be more interested in beautifying than protection, I think, since there are so many cosmetics for eyelashes on the market. For gentlemen, the function of practical protection is probably considered more important than beautifying.  This tells me that men and women have a rather different focus on things. Actually this is one of the wonders God created for us – we see different things and complement each other.

In this world, there are a lot of things that is beautiful but impractical. You can argue that whether it is practical or not is depending upon personal preference. To some degree, I agree. However, to me, a thing that is beautiful but impractical is usually for the purpose of decoration. Some of them may not be harmful but would not be of useful to us either. For example, is our belief (faith) like a decoration that is beautiful but not practical? If it is, then we are in danger. A decorative religion has NO life inside and it is bounded to wither – it wouldn’t grow and it couldn’t affect any other life except negatively. Besides, we are living in a society that is focusing on our personal image more than genuine quality of life. Admittedly, there is nothing wrong to be looking good. But, the danger comes when it becomes “decorative” because of over focus on it.

One of my friends taught me about the answer to the question of “What is the chief end of man?” – “To glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.”  It is quite enlightening. In fact, Rev. C.H. Spurgeon summarized it even further, “The chief end of man in this life and in the next is to please God the Maker”.  This is quite true and it explains the practical purpose of our life. The author of Ecclesiastes told us that God has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (神造萬物，各按其時成為美好‧又將永生安置在世人心裡‧﹝永生原文作永遠﹞然而神從始至終的作為，人不能參透. 傳道書 3:11)

God created beautiful things for us and He also wants us to know Him personally. Without the practical purpose of knowing Him, we will miss the big piece of our life – the eternity in our heart. So, my brothers and sisters, it is our practical purpose to please God and let’s live a life that is worthy of His calling….

Happy Chinese New Year!