| | Most of what I've been writing lately has been kept under wraps in preparation for the launch of ZA. But this one is less of a timeless article (as I'm discussing recent and dateable events) and I feel like someone needs to read it. So here goes! Enjoy!
My travels in Australia are very revealing. There's a sense of urgency down here, man! I'm here for four months and that's it! I may NEVER return to Oz again after my semester abroad here! This idea that my time is temporary affects my travel plans. I'm going to MAKE a trip to Tasmania works, because I have to! I'm going to try my best to MAKE trips to the Outback and Sydney work, because there might not be a second chance.
Contrast that to my perspective at home. Isn't it odd that I have now been to Mexico, Canada, and Australia, but haven't spent more than an afternoon in Philadelphia, which is in the same state as me! I've not been to New York City, Chicago, anywhere in New England proper, and so on. Because "I can do that anytime I want to!" Right? Goodness, how much haven't I done in Pittsburgh! Or what about my hometown of Latrobe? I've never gone to training camp at St. Vincent because I con go whenever I want!
You get the idea. Now let's make it interpersonal.
Relationships. When you want to get the other's attention, you do all kinds of awesome stuff! When guy is courting a girl, he wants to make her love him enough that when he drops the knee the answer is yes. But how many times do you hear stories about marriages that get stale? The passion goes. That kinda thing. I can't speak too much on this cause obviously I'm not experienced, but I would have to believe that the same line of reasoning applies here. When you're married (and if you reject divorce), you know that the other isn't gonna leave. I can imagine that it would be quite easy to then not spend time or not do stuff because "you have your whole life to do that!" "She said 'I do' forever! She's always gonna love me!"
Now let's go spiritual.
We have it hammered into our Christian heads that God will never leave us or forsake us. Cause it's true! It's the promise that God gave the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land, and it's the promise that God gives us, so long as we continue to seek and serve and love Him. He'll pick us up and brush us off when we fall, He'll keep us on the right path, He'll give us strength beyond anything we can comprehend! I've experienced that down here. I'm in new situations with a lot of challenges. I'm in a house that has a culture contrary to God, and I'm getting physically beat up by a combination of heat, exertion, and nasty bicycle spills. But even though my prayer time has been often mediocre and my reading has gone in spurts, I've felt so strong, because God has been helping me!
Can you see where I'm going with this? If we have a God that'll never leave us, do you honestly think that we won't at least be tempted to get complacent? What if we knew that we only had a day to get as close to God as possible? What if God left us if we didn't show enough passion? The first is unlikely and the latter is untrue, but how would that affect your fervency?
So we gain two perspectives. One, we've gotta realize just how short life is.
Psalm 39:4-5
4 O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!
Life is short! David gets it, I get it sometimes and forget it just as quickly. When I pitched over the handlebars of my bicycle for a second time in a week, I was able to stand up, look at my wounds briefly, pick up my bike, straighten the handlebars, and get to the sidewalk before an approaching car passed the place where I had fallen. Had I left the house 30 seconds later? I was going around a corner; I totally would have hit the corner the same way, and I would have flipped right into it.
Boom. That quick. Makes a few scrapes and bruises feel pretty good! (God's really been helping me, like I said!)
So, when it comes to my spiritual walk, I want to make sure that I have my house in order, every day. Cause if I die that day, which is gonna matter more: the prayer time I had, or that I was caught up on all the tech, auto, and Mac news that I get from the Internet?
Perspective number two: We've gotta fear the Lord.
Psalm 110:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Psalm 114:7-8
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.
Psalm 114 is interesting because it personifies the elements of nature and has them genuinely being afraid of God. If you read the Scriptures, you'll find that God has more problems with humans than He does with nature. Mountains don't rebel against God. Rocks will cry out to God if necessary. You could easily shrug that observation off and I'd understand, but do you think that fear and obedience have something do to with this? Fear of God is the starting place for a lot of good qualities: humility, urgency, wisdom, fervency, penitence, and so on. If you had a good dad, you'll know that he'd always love you but man, you didn't want to cross him, right? Well, how much more complete is God's love and His fearsomeness?
I don't want to overstate the fear element because the commandment is "love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength" not "fear the Lord your God..." but I don't want you ignore this, either. I have a friend who doesn't believe that Christians can lose their salvation (which is a whole different discussion!), but, he says, "Live like you can lose it." And I think that's a good way to look at it, so long as you're motivated by love instead of fear.
To sum it up in a sentence, I'd merely say that life is short and God is not to be messed with. If we can get this straight, we'll find our permanent relationship with the Lord (and life in general!) to be a lot more inspired.
Grace and peace,
Brendan |
| | Posted 3/5/2008 7:55 AM - 54 Views - 4 eProps - 3 comments
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