Value & Life's Brevity, by John

Value & Life's Brevity

Considering the brevity of life on earth, does anything we do have lasting value? According to the Bible, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." (I Corinthians 15:19). Paul also wrote in Galatians 3:24, "So the Law was in charge to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." If we have faith in Christ, we have hope. If we have hope, we have far more to look forward to in the future, and our future will be forever!

Think about all the work we do just to live in this world. Is it no more than busy work God has given us to keep us out of trouble? Does it have any meaning, or is Ecclesiastes right when it proclaims all is done in vain?

I wonder about some of the things Jesus said, too. What about when someone strikes us on one cheek, and we are to turn the other? Is that just giving in to the superiority of another person, or is it actually a declaration of God saying He loves the person who hurts us, and it would be sinful for us to take revenge on a person He loves?

Has it ever occurred to you that God still creates? I remember making model airplanes from kits, and various electronic devices. Later, I started my own kids on some of the same things. My intention was to let them do the work, but most of the time I expected too much and ended up doing a lot of the work myself. Did I just happen to start doing something with my children that God has done with His all the time?

Edison "invented" the incandescent light bulb, and that changed the world, didn't it? Did he do something new, or did he just unveil a gift God was holding in store for us? Ecclesiastes says there is nothing new under the sun, but some people reading that today are quick to say, "Man! If he just knew about all the technical stuff of today! Wouldn't he be surprised?" Actually, I think the author of Ecclesiastes would have said something like, "Wow! Who would have guessed God had all these good things ready for us!" He knew people don't create. Only God does that, and that leads me to make another assertion: God still creates, and as our heavenly Father, He lets us take part in it! "Inventors" are people especially blessed with the ability, stability, and patience to uncover the wonderful things God has prepared for mankind. I'm doubtful there is an end to what can be done with "human" technology. The preceding quotation marks are there to show my assurance that many people are unaware of what really happens. I think too many of us miss God's accomplishments and give the credit to the wrong entity.

We need to look at the positive side of everything. The person who hurts another is going against God's will in most cases, but probably not all. Our Father loves the one who hurts just as much as He loves the person who is hurt. In most cases returning the hurt doubles the wrong. An inventor deserves the profit for his discovery and development of new things, but the credit belongs to the Creator Who made him and gave him his ability. Instead of being proud of ourselves, we need to develop thankful hearts for the One Who made us as we are. All of us are valuable in His sight, and we are so loved that He sent Jesus to redeem us and make us His adopted sons and daughters.

I just heard that Google revealed that they are developing an automobile that will not require a driver. Punch in the destination, and the car will deliver the passenger wherever he needs to go. It obeys the speed limits and follows the best route to arrive there safely. Meanwhile the passenger is able to read, nap, or text on his phone without danger. Beyond what I read, I don't know anything about it. I just learned this bit recently. But no one person could possibly do such a thing, and no group could accomplish such a feat without the creative leadership of our most wonderful, caring God.

I've been near-sighted all my life. With corrective lens I had 20/20 vision for a number of years. Now, I've lost 97 % of the vision in my left eye and 95% in my right due to glaucoma. I know what it is like not to be able to recognize friends at a distance, and I now know what it is like to walk into a room thinking it empty and being startled when someone already there speaks! Nothing at this time can be done to restore my vision. I'm happy I can still navigate around pretty well. What bothers me most is not my loss of vision, but rather the myopic vision of most of the people in the world. Most see every physical thing 20/20, and they can see a lot more of the same stuff with microscopes and telescopes. Computers can enhance these so that they can still see more, but only God can give the world the ability to see beyond the physical to behold the spiritual. We can guess fairly accurately about the near future, but God can help us see the spiritual future as accutely as we need to see it.


In John 14:1-3, Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." When we glimpse what God has prepared for us, how thrilled we are! Sometimes we have been educated with the ideas of others, and heaven may not be as appealing as it should be, but when we read the Bible, pray about what we read asking for understanding, I firmly believe God gives it to us. When He does, we discover that we are like those who talked about it to others. There are no words to express the thrill! The glory is beyond our language to describe what we know to be true. Don't bother with trying to believe me! Believe Jesus! He is the Creator. He is the single greatest Revealer of our Father that any of us has seen and known!