The Holy Scriptures are an inexhaustible source of daily motivation for anyone who approaches them with trust. They are a collection – or better yet, a library – that encompasses all of human history, from the creation of the world to Christ and His immediate disciples, speaks to the present, and opens the door to the future. Any person who desires to grow spiritually and fulfill their purpose and meaning in life can find in the Bible an example for every situation they face.

But can all those stories from the Scriptures, told thousands of years ago, truly serve as a guide for us today – for our everyday life and the situations we encounter in this digital age?

Every story recorded in the Holy Scriptures can be interpreted in multiple ways – that is, we can approach it on various levels. In theology, this is called the exegetical approach, the best known of which are the allegorical and the historical (literal) methods. From the allegorical perspective, every word of the Scriptures can lead us to reflect on its symbolic meaning and its application as a guide for our daily lives.

Let us take the very beginning of the Bible—the story of the creation of the world – and two enigmatic words that appear already in the second verse: And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the abyss, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. These two emphasized words can be seen both literally and allegorically. Abyss and water can point us toward the foundation, the essential precondition we need for a healthy spiritual life – as well as for physical, bodily life. The abyss – as something without boundaries, infinite, without top or bottom. Water – as something pure, clear, and transparent, a source of life.

In other words, already in the very beginning of creation, God sets before us endless possibilities – an inexhaustible spring from which we are called to draw boundless creative ideas, plans, and visions, and above all, an ocean of motivation for every endeavor we undertake, no matter how complex, difficult, or seemingly unattainable. We Christians call this boundless possibility the love of God; some philosophers call it “the world of ideas,” or whatever name one chooses – imagining that primordial mass in either a physical or spiritual form. But the fact remains that only after such a foundation is laid do tangible creations begin to emerge: the environment into which we humans – crown of the creative process – are ultimately placed.

For this reason, the Scriptures unmistakably tell us that we are created in the image and likeness of God – something that, of course, cannot be interpreted literally, but allegorically: we are called and invited to be participants and continuers of God’s creation, to refine that initial creative impulse, and to elevate both ourselves and our surroundings toward perfection.

If we accept our place and role in the world in this way, and if we set as our life’s vision – that is, the goal and meaning of our life – the attainment of our own personal perfection and the perfection of our environment, then we must be aware that before us lie unimaginable possibilities, an inexhaustible source of resources to achieve that goal, and a boundless motivation not to look back at the void, darkness, and non-being from which the entire creative process began. Or, as the Apostle Paul said to the Romans: If God is for us, who can be against us?

Therefore, God has prepared everything we need for us to be creative – as He is the Creator; for us to be free – as He is free to conceive and to create; and for us to be open to unimaginable new forms and possibilities, as He expects from us. We are called and invited to be makers and creators, users and perfecters of His creation and of that initial creative impulse in this world as it is. And each of us, in our own generation, is to leave a creative mark.

However, once we accept God’s call and invitation – once we embrace that abyss of possibilities He gives us and dive into the sea of creativity and ideas He opens before us – we arrive at an important crossroads in life. From that crossroads, everything else in our life depends: every single thing, object, and being we encounter, as well as every individual moment after the choice we make there. At that branching of paths, everything depends on us – on our decision, our determination, and our conscious acceptance of one of two offered roads: to continue toward the goal of being God’s co-workers and co-creators in His work, making abundant use of the resources He offers us; or to turn inward to ourselves and our own strength, building exclusively our own world without God, rejecting any possibility of allowing Him and His resources to have a place in the environment we create.

It’s hardly surprising that, when faced with such a choice, most people would say: “Well, of course, I’ll choose God and all those unimaginable possibilities He offers!”
But will they actually live accordingly? Will that decision truly become part of their conscious commitment  – an inseparable element of every micro-plan and every moment in which they act?
It is more than clear that God expects us, when placed on such a path and plan, not to act declaratively or formally, but proactively  – cooperating with Him. And such a decision is by no means simple or easy.

For the modern person – educated at great and famous universities of the world, relying on resources they firmly believe they created themselves, without God, and which they perfect daily, such as the internet and artificial intelligence – it is extremely difficult to choose the path that requires reliance on God and His instruments. The elevation of modern science and technology to the status of deity, and of the human being who created or perfected them to the rank of Creator, is the path chosen by the majority of today’s humanity. Therefore, the choice to walk with God could easily be called – borrowing from the title of Scott Peck’s famous book – The Road Less Traveled. And I am inviting you to take that road!

Once again, Scripture offers us a vivid example of what we are talking about. Moses – a man with the finest education of his time, with access to the greatest achievements and technologies of his civilization – receives a direct, clear, and unmistakable call from God to take part in the creative process of liberating and spiritually-culturally-legally building the people chosen by God.
A man who stood at the very top of the highest political and business circles – even by today’s standards – comes face-to-face with God’s open invitation and responds in a way I firmly believe many in such circles would today: he refuses the plan that does not align with his own, seeking excuses not to take the path he did not conceive, design, and mark out for himself. His life goal, grounded in his education, knowledge, experience, and available resources, was in a completely different place than the one God now set before him.

• But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
• Moses answered, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’”
• Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
• But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”

Only the open display of miracles – glimpses of God’s power and the infinite possibilities placed before Moses, far above and beyond the most advanced human technologies – convinces Moses to become God’s co-worker and co-creator of the plan laid before him and before him and an entire nation.
At last, he consents and embarks on an adventure that has inspired countless modern films – full of suspense, action, and profound human drama. None of this would have been possible without his conscious agreement and his setting of the goal to enter the Promised Land with a people enslaved in every sense – physically and spiritually.

However, along this journey, something unusual happens – something Moses himself records by his own example. He honestly and openly reveals that he was not prepared to follow his chosen goal at every moment. The people, thirsty in the wilderness, ask him for water. As a responsible leader of the community, he fails to accept responsibility for his own personal choice, instead showing the weariness – so common on life’s path – of the role he had willingly taken on. He expresses this weariness through irritation and anger toward the community, because of their constant demands and needs.

Yet even then, God gives him a solution, opening the doors of His endless possibilities and pointing him to the rock from which water would flow – if they would proclaim the name of the Lord as Creator and Sustainer. But Moses strikes the rock, not in the name of the Lord, not as a confession of the Creator and Sustainer, but out of his own frustration and anger – in truth, out of weariness toward his ultimate goal. The water flows, and the community’s needs are met – but something happens that Moses did not expect. According to the biblical account, he is punished: he will not enter the Promised Land and will not see the fulfillment of his life’s vision.

So – is God a judge? And a harsh one, angry at His creation?

From a literal reading, that might seem the conclusion. But in the context of the whole story, God is not punishing Moses – He is merely stating a fact: Moses’ vision, which he had consciously and personally accepted as his ultimate life goal and purpose, was not deeply enough rooted – not fully realized and clear enough to guide him unwaveringly to the end. This realization fell on Moses brutally like a verdict at the end of a trial – but in this case, it was the trial of testing the truth and firmness of one’s personal choice and statement of intent.

In other words, the “verdict” is nothing but the unveiled reality that the vision had been set only formally, mechanically, declaratively – but not fully consciously and clearly as the ultimate purpose of life. The statement of intent had not been given with complete awareness and consent.

If Moses had truly accepted entering the Promised Land as the leader of God’s chosen people – as his life vision, his goal, and the meaning of his existence – and if he had decided that the journey toward that goal would be a staircase built of micro-visions, each as an essential part of the ultimate vision – then it follows that each of those micro-visions had to be in harmony with the final one.
His fatigue, anger, and frustration revealed that the declaration of vision was not, in fact, the true vision of his life. If it had been, then each micro-vision – like the crossing of the Red Sea, which opened before them so they could advance toward the Promised Land – would have been a step toward fulfilling the ultimate vision.

The conclusion that this example presses upon us is this: No one can force us — not even God — to have an ultimate life vision, unless we ourselves choose it. We are summoned and invited to find it — that “guiding star,” that meaning of our life, which shines clearly enough to illuminate the entire path toward it. And if we find it, we are expected to do so consciously, with full responsibility for our personal choice.
Once chosen, that vision should enrich every moment of life, giving meaning to each micro–vision as a fragment of the whole. That light — as love for the chosen vision, chosen by our will, in line with our capacities, affinities, gifts, and talents — is more than enough motivation to never doubt it for a single moment.
This is the deep faith within us that, in its fulfillment, the ultimate meaning of our life will be realized — the very reason God brought us into this world, and the pledge of the life to come in the Kingdom of Heaven, where for eternity we will be known by that goal.