What is the chief
end of man?
(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")
Question: What
is the chief end of man?
Answer: Man's
chief end is to glorify God,
and to enjoy Him forever.
"My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When
can I go and meet with God?" Psalm 42:2
Is the enjoyment of God in this life so sweet? How
wicked are those who prefer the enjoyment of their
lusts, before the enjoyment of God! 'The lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life,' is the
evil trinity they worship.
Lust is an inordinate desire or impulse, provoking the
soul to that which is evil. Lust, like a feverish heat, puts
the soul into a flame. Aristotle calls sensual lusts, brutish,
because, when any lust is violent—reason and conscience
cannot be heard. These lusts besot and brutalize the man.
How many make it their chief end, not to enjoy God—but
to enjoy their lusts! Lust first bewitches with pleasure—and
then comes the fatal dart! This should be a flaming sword
to stop men in the way of their carnal delights—Who,
for
a
drop of pleasure, would drink a sea of wrath?