What's the point?

"What's the point of loving God? Or praying to God? Or going to church? Or trying to follow God's commands?"

 This was a question that came up on a blog I read (http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/) and it's a good one. What is the point?

 It just so happens that I've spent the better part of today in prison, leading Bible studies with men incarcerated in Maximum and Medium security. Of all people you could say that they've experienced life at its rawest, they've seen (and caused) death and hideous abuse. They have no stake in the riches of society but have torn at its fabric to extract benefits for themselves. They have been caught and are paying the penalty society demands.

The words of this question didn't come up in the Bible study I led on "Don't look back - A new start", but the answer did.

One of the men in Maximum pointed out that we're all going to die, it's an inescapable consequence of the rebellion of humanity against God. He knows that to die without knowing Jesus, to be left to face the Judgement alone (if we've chosen to live without Jesus) is a prospect too awful for words.

The point of loving God is that life without him is too terrible and hopeless to imagine (especially if you've experienced it in part), though too many people live in that hopelessness, fear and uncertainty. Belief is not a crutch to see you through. Reading the Bible, knowing God, makes sense of the world we live in, and offers (never forces) a solution.