“For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:20
Glorify God and enjoy Him forever. That is the chief end of man. So simple.
It isn’t a long to do list and it isn’t a situationally dependent complicated activity. Just imagine if the answer to this question was all about your credit rating and income, and the house you need to buy. Imagine if our faith said that the chief end of man was to put in a certain number of hours reading, or to have a certain number of children. Imagine if we thought that you had to work exclusively inside the home, or exclusively outside of it. Imagine if the church confessed that we had to have immaculate yards, sew all of our own clothes, grind our own wheat, or get a certain number of meals for the needy delivered. Imagine if the chief end of man was to be fit, or beautiful, or wear designer clothes, or have a home that could be featured on a blog. Many of these things are outside of our control, if not outside of our desire.
Now I know, and you know, that most Christians would not put any of the above random requirements into words as a statement of faith. But many of us slip equally ridiculous things into our own private goals and expectations. So while it is rare (probably not rare enough!) to hear a church state that you have to have at least four children, it is not at all rare to hear the sorrows of a woman who always thought that she had to do just that or she wouldn’t be a real Christian. It is not normal for Christians to express these things positively as a statement of faith, but it is absolutely common place for them to express it negatively as a failure. What I mean by that is, “I am not a real Christian like those other ladies in our church because I work part time outside the home” or “I am just doing the worst job because chronic pain and personal suffering has made it so that I can’t have large groups over for dinner regularly.” Or for a woman to feel less than a good Christian because she still has a bunch of baby weight (or bake sale) weight to lose. Read More
I have seven children who love to eat. We eat by day, and we would eat by night if we were allowed to. Keeping up with the appetites makes me feel not unlike the man on the old coal-powered train whose job it was to never stop shoveling coal. Some of my children are the fire that runs extra hot. Blaire, for instance, is a major breakfast eater, and cereal is a special thrill around here. I don’t know if it was just the knowledge of the Cheerios in the house that caused it, but the other week she got up so early it was still dark out, and while we were in bed, she ate two bowls of cheerios in the dark, went back to bed, and woke up at the normal time thinking she had only dreamed of Cheerios. Two bowls of the precious Cheerios, shot down in the dark and forgotten completely. 
Let me tell you a little something about myself as a way of breaking the rather prolonged silence on my part. Life has been so wildly busy! We are getting deeper and deeper into what feels like the splits of parenting. A nursing baby but also junior high track meets. Moses is a darling, wonderful, lively and cheerful 6 month old. So far, his spiritual gifts have not included napping. He dabbles in them at best. I am not complaining, because really he is so happy and thriving – but he certainly makes sure that even though he is number 7, he gets his full share of our attention. He has initiative, that one.
