The story is told in the United States of the Lee Steamboat Company carrying a cargo of salt pork from New Orleans to Memphis. As they passed Natchez another boat attempted to pass her and the race was on. The Lee steamboat captain ordered full steam but it was insufficient to pass her smaller counterpart.

Then the captain got an idea. He ordered that some of the salt pork they were carrying be thrown into the furnace. Instantly thick black smoke came billowing out and the boat increased its power. This worked so well that they tried it again and again. At last, with whistles blowing and flags waving, the Lee steamboat arrived in the port of Memphis far ahead of its rival. But, alas, when the merchants came for their cargo of pork, they found that it had all been destroyed in the furnace to win the race. They had forgotten what their voyage was all about.

Is this not a parable of our human predicament? Many are racing to get to the top of their careers, spending whatever time left to the endless pursuit of entertainment to fill the boredom and emptiness while forgetting completely the very purpose of their life down here.

The Lord Jesus said "Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" (Luke 12:15). Life is more than promotions , possessions, and pleasures. God is the fountain of all life and without God there can never be meaning or purpose to life. The Bible reveals that man is a sinner without exception or excuse, alienated from God by wicked works and an enemy of God. Man is dead in sin and under the sentence of death and eternal judgment in hell. All the religion in the world and philosophy cannot alter this or change human nature.

The only hope is for a Saviour and God in love has provided one, His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This world in its blindness murdered Him on a cross but in God’s infinite wisdom and plan, He paid the price for human sin by tasting death for every man. He was raised from the dead in the third day and ascended to heaven a living Saviour, rejected of men but glorified by God.

Real life that is abundant and eternal begins when you repent of your sin and call upon the Lord to save you.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Only one life and it will soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.