WHY DO WE LIVE?

COMPENDIUM OF STUDIES BY YOSEF BEN NAVID All of us are called for a purpose. Some years ago a little boy about eight years old watched me as I prepared for my morning meditations. I began to talk to him aboutYeshua= Jesus and asked him several questions. What are you doing? I asked the lad. I go to school, was the reply. Why do you go to school? To study, he said. Why do you study? To get smart. Why do you want to get smart? So I can get a good job. Why do you want to get a good job? So I can make lots of money. Why do you want to make lots of money? So I can buy food. Why do you want to buy food? So I can eat. Why do you want to eat? To live. Why do you live? At that point, the little boy thought for a minute, scratched his head, looked me in the face and said, Sir, why do I live? He paused a moment in mid-thought, then gave his own sad answer, To die! The question is the same for all of us: Why do we live? What is the basic purpose of your living in this world, as you claim to be a disciple of the Ysha Hamashiaj= Lord Jesus Christ? Is it to accumulate wealth? Fame? Popularity? To fulfill the desires of the flesh and of the mind? And to somehow survive and, in the end, to die and hopefully go to heaven? No. The purpose of your life as a believer must be to obey Ysha= Jesus when He said, Go ye into the entire world, and preach the gospel. . . . That is what Shaul= Paul did when he laid down his arms and said, Lord, what you want me to do? If all of your concern is about your own life, your job, your clothes, your childrens good clothes, healthy bodies, a good education, a good job and marriage, then your concerns are no different from someone who is lost in this material world. When Ysha= Jesus was here on earth, His goal was to do nothing but the will of His Father. Our commitment must be only His will. Ysha= Jesus no longer is walking on earth. We are His body; He is our head. That means our lips are the lips of Ysha= Jesus. Our hands

are His hands; our eyes, His eyes; our hope, His hope. My wife and children belong to Ysha= Jesus. My money, my talent, my education all belong to Ysha= Jesus. So what is His will? What are we to do in this world with all of these gifts He has given us? As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you, are His instructions. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of Yahweh= the Father, and of Ysha= the Son, and of Raj HaKodesh= the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (John 20:21; Matthew 28:1920). Every Christian should know the answers to the following three basic questions about missions in order to fulfill the call of HaShem= our Lord to reach the lost world for His name.

One, what is the primary task of the Call= Church?

Each of the four GospelsMatthew, Mark, Luke and Johngives us a mandate from our Yeshu= Lord Jesus, the mission statement of the Call= Church, known as the Great Commission. See Matthew 28:1820; Mark 16:1516; Luke 24:47; and John 20:21. The Great Commission reveals the reason Havai= God has left us here in this world, the main activity of the Church until Ysha Hamashiaj= Jesus returns as Melej Melejim= the King of kings to gather us to Himself. He desires us to go everywhere proclaiming the love of Havai= God to a lost world. Exercising His authority and demonstrating His power, we are to preach the Gospel, make disciples, baptize and teach people to obey all the commands of Ysha Hamashiaj.