by J.L. Morgan
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Time: What is it?
If you were to take a moment and reflect. I want to stress this idea, because the world is trying to distract you from this one underlying fact; that every human, when they take the time to reflect, will all say the same thing.
Where you are today, right now. If you were to look over the past 3 years, the past decade, your total time here on earth so far; when one honestly accounts for their life, they will admit that they blinked and are here now.
Time is a funny attribute. When you’re younger, or especially waiting for something, time seems to take so long to bring about pleasurable outcomes.
Time is one of those elements that just continues running in the background. Just like breathing, it isn’t until you slow yourself down, or heaven forbid get an infection, that one realizes just how important the ability to breathe is. However, it went unnoticed as long as things were working correctly.
Time is both your blessing and your curse. When you’re small you can’t wait until you are older. When you’re older, you spend more time looking at your past wishing, or at least wondering how different your life would be, or even a longing to just go back to “simpler” times.
“I’ll sleep when I’m dead” is a phrase one doesn’t hear much anymore today. The concept is that I need to work hard, or play hard, now and enjoy life, because once I’m in the grave I won’t be able to enjoy myself anymore.
What am I really saying here?
If you could go back to your younger self and give one piece of advice, what would you say to yourself?
This question really requires a lot of thought. Some would say “I’d tell myself to buy shares in Amazon”, or some might say “I would’ve told myself to spend more time with my parents”.
Sadly some look back and say “I wish I would have spent more time with my best friend, my spouse”, because they miss them and life has been extra hard without them around. When one looks back over their life it is inevitable to wonder how life would have been different if you had just made one decision differently.
Dear friend, I am here to tell you that the life you have lived thus far is exactly the life you were supposed to live. Everything in a person’s life is supposed to show them the futility of their own actions.
The point of your existence on this earth is for you to find peace with your Creator. Jacob wrestled with God all night, a night before His most feared day to that point. Jacob was about to meet his brother Esau. Jacob was deathly afraid of His older brother, the same brother whom he had stolen his birthright, and blessing.
But that night he wrestled with God. In his desire to avoid his fear he engaged in an all night physical wrestling match with God. Now granted he didn’t know it was God until he put Him in submission. But I think this speaks to a deeper point. Jacob had just secretly sent his wives, family and everything ahead of him so that he alone was left. He had to be alone.
Have you ever had a troubling time in your life? Have you ever looked to God and said “why”? Have you ever spent the night in prayer, wrestling, with God because of some outcome that you desire?
Jesus tells us not to worry about things of this world in Matt 6:25-34, take a minute to read what Jesus is saying to those who would follow Him.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Now watch this, take those same words of Jesus, and see in the 14th chapter of Matthew, He then feeds 5000 men with only 5 loaves and 2 fish.
Jesus wants you to know that for those who devote their lives, and very soul to Him, He has promised to take care of you.
One ability that the living have, is to look at their past. Forgetting current situations, if you look back over your existence, one of two things will happen. An earthly person will look over things, some with regret, and some with pride. They believe they are where they are on their own efforts.
A true Born again Christian, will look at that same life and see that the Blessings of your Heavenly Father has in fact sustained you up to this point. He may not lavish you with all the trinkets and things of this world that you desire, but He has sustained you.
When one approaches God in spirit, one can comprehend that God wasn’t so much worried about giving you things, as He was more concerned with matters of the heart. Your growth in this life should never be equated with things, and social status. The lost worry about things such as these.
God wants you to focus on the lasting benefits. God wants for you to see that even when you turned your back on Him, He was still sustaining you.
Friends, do you not understand that the very breath you are taking is a Gift from God. The fact that you opened your eyes this morning, should be enough for you to cry out in thanks to the Creator of everything, for giving you a few more minutes to bring Him glory. For those still lost, He has given you a few more moments to consider Him and turn to Him.
How many of you thank God daily for the little things, like toothpaste? Do you not understand that as long as you give yourself credit for the things you have you are in fact spitting in the face of the very God who blessed you with those things.
You may say “I worked hard all my life, I slaved to have the things I have earned”. You wouldn’t have even had the energy and strength had God not given you those first.
The world will tell you that if you want it, then go for it. If you didn’t receive it, then you didn’t want it bad enough.
The world will tell you that if you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything.
The world hates the idea that you wouldn’t even exist if God did not will it. The world wants credit for its work.
God wants credit for His work.
The world desperately tells you to take credit for your good deeds. The world wants you to focus on your story, your legacy.
The true Born Again Christian knows that without God, he has nothing. Without God we are just lost souls headed down a path of destruction and utter separation from the Supreme entity. Christians are just glad that God looked upon them with pity, mercy, and grace.
The only way to follow God is to realize that all your efforts in your own name have been in vain. Only when you learn to make your efforts in His Name can you honestly truly live.
Which means for the Christian, he can look back over his life and know that all his efforts before God were in vain, but Praise God, your efforts since He has redeemed you have been to glorify Him.
STAY IN THE LOOP
