Thursday, December 9, 2010

Strangers on this Earth

2Corinthians 4:18 - So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

This is a bit of a disjointed blog! My thoughts went from being strangers on this earth to communication! I hope you see the connection. 

Those who are in Christ are considered strangers in this world. This life we live is only temporary, which should be quite an encouraging and inspiring thought. It's a thought that should be communicated...

I can't help but think back on the visual images of the disaster of Black Friday. Was it worse than years past? Was it not as bad as years to come? Where are we going as a society? What has happened to us as Americans when we allow ourselves to become so out of hand that we will fight for stuff, stuff we just plain want? I don't believe it was all for gifts for the kids either....

What happened to the thanks in Thanksgiving? Were these people at all thankful for what they already have? Or was Thanksgiving no more than another day off from work and food...maybe that anticipation, no obsession, to get out the next day and shop!

We've all heard it said you can't take it with you. Well, that's pretty much what the Bible has told us in Job when he says naked we come into this world and naked we will leave (Job 1:21). But for some reason we think we are a needful people. Necessities of life are good and some can afford more, but when does it become more than we truly need? Why can't we be satisfied? When do we allow God to take care of our needs?

What's the most important thing in this life? It's not our stuff. It's our relationship with God first and then our relationship with others. He has given us a great planet to enjoy. There are so many things we can share (with others) just in nature...in God's creation. Share in the creation of life through small children. Share in the ability to communicate and compare our thoughts. These are simple things. When did we start to lose interest in them? When did stuff become more important? People are so much more important.

God's whole plan for life on earth was to communicate with Him, to have fellowship with Him, to learn about Him, having our thoughts be on the good and worthy things...not the stuff in our lives, the things that become our busyness and take away from our time from Him. If we are to do that with the Lord, shouldn't we be doing that with others?

We can't take this stuff with us! So does that mean we enjoy it while we can or make an attempt to learn of the better things, of God, that bring eternal life? When did our creature comforts become more important? Isn't knowing God, knowing Jesus, knowing the power of the Holy Spirit more important? And then isn't it our responsibility as Christians to share that information with others? Communicate, like we ought to be doing with the Lord. Instead we busy ourselves with stuff. Where's the fellowship with our own families? Why have so many lost the ability to gather around a dinner table and discuss...yes discuss...the events of the day?

The inability to communicate has made us strangers among ourselves in this earth. When we don't communicate with God we are strangers in a spiritual sense. God's definition of strangers on this earth is our just passing through this life. Passing through yet realizing what goodness lies ahead and sharing that. We are to separate ourselves from the Black Friday crowd and be thankful for what we have without going overboard on the stuff. Be content in the things of God, not the things of the world.

If we could fully grasp this idea imagine the peace we would have in our lives. Our consuming thoughts would not be on what we think we need, but on what God has promised us.

Romans 13:14 tells us to clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and not gratify the desires of our sinful nature. We saw that recently in the behavior of Black Friday...and we can see that in our own homes when we choose not to share, listen or communicate. How I would love to talk about the things of God more often. The peace it would bring.

We're approaching a season that is to be joyful because of the Lord Jesus Christ. God gave us His Son that we might have eternal life. Let's communicate that to others. Let's point others to Him that we might have an open line of communication between ourselves and Him. He wasn't consumed with stuff. He did not even have a place to lay His head (Luke 9:58). The only thing that was important was how He interacted with the people, how He talked to them...to point us to eternal life, not death through all the things in this world we just have to get out and fight for. He is to be our example.

1Peter 2:11 - Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul...

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