Few weeks ago, near my work place, i noticed this ad displayed on the Great Eastern building. It posed a catchy phrase "life is great!" and so the ad goes on to say that with financial security, good health and meaning relationships, life indeed is great. In an instant, my mind immediately agreed with the tagline that life definitely will be great if I had money, health and great relationships, isn’t that true?

Perhaps for anyone, money, health and relationships are holds a high priority in their life. It give him a purpose in life and the very thing one pursues. In my opinion, it is only human to have such earthly pursuits. It is normal and perfectly fine. One needs to fulfill at least a basic standard of living and satisfy their physical needs.

This intriguing tagline "life is great" nicely sums up our earthly pursuits we have today. Considering today's materialistic culture and meritocratic society, both only serve to intensify these desires. (I won't deny that the media has marketed these desires and concept of life very well as well, the ad I mention is a good example.) It has carried such desires beyond a level of contentment, meaning we often caught up in an endless pursuit for money, power, status etc. I suppose many of us are trap in such mindless pursuits, I am no exception.

Such disturbing thoughts beckon me to reconsider the tagline and be slow to agreeing to the message being marketed. Is there anything beyond "money + health + relationship = life is great"? If one day money health and relationships were to all disappear, is there any other purpose in our life? No doubt, fulfiling our physcial and emotional needs are important, but often we may have easily carried these needs too far such that it translates into a senseless desire that could have cloud our perspective in life.

Perhaps what is really lacking is the spiritual aspect in this "life is great" formula. In the recent trip to Northern Thailand, Ps Zhili delivered his sermon, preaching that the very purpose of our life is about living for others and living for god. Through god, we can make a positive difference in others. Indeed, it has been very enlightening and I can't agree any less. It is what we have been ordered to do and our very purpose in life.

I reflected on my life and the lives of many others today. We studied hard, worked hard, earn our keep, splurged on our materialistic desires etc. Nothing is wrong at all, it's our duty to work hard and we deserve to enjoy the fruits of our labour. However, what we may have overlooked is the purpose driving our labour. In retrospect, I used to study hard cause it is my duty and with the desire that in the near future I can achieve a comfortable standard of living. Perhaps all these should change, my focus must change. It is my responsibility to do my utmost in my studies, work etc. and it is also a duty to become a blessing to others because of my actions and my faith. Living the gospel in a manner pleasing to god, bearing great testimony of your faith and a blessing to others takes a higher order than the pursuit of wealth, power, status etc.

We have heard countless time on this big talk about the living the gospel. It is always easier said than done. Perhaps then we should bear in mind that the fruits of our spiritual life is always something worth desiring. If we were to refine the "life is great" formula, perhaps it should then be "living for god + living for others = life is great". The focus has changed. Money, relationships etc. can take the back seat since the fruits of living for god and others are the blessings of the lord. He will give us what is good in his time and in his way. The talk is still big and the struggles are real but let’s all strive together.