“Just live in the moment.” Have you ever heard anybody say that? Do you think that’s really possible? Now, I listen to The Dog Whisperer (because my dog needs him), and he says that dogs “live in the moment.” I believe that because dogs have no self-awareness. They know who feeds them, that it’s time to take a nap, and that something needs to be barked at. That’s about it. But dogs don’t plan what to make for dinner, what to wear to church tomorrow, or where they want to go on Saturday night. But people do…I don’t think we can help it! Can you think of anybody, no matter what he (or she) says, that truly lives “in the moment”?
The problem is, we, as humans, have to make plans! In fact, what happens to people who don’t make plans? They have a really hard time, don’t they? It’s kind of a depressing way to live when you think about it. If you live “in the moment”, you’re kind of denying that the future exists. As Christians, we absolutely can’t live like that because the future is what gets us through the moments. The future is our hope; it’s what we live for – our future with Jesus.
The thing is, if somebody can convince himself that all that’s important is right here and now, then he can ignore any consequences for what he chooses to do at any particular moment. Things that happen become luck or coincidence rather than the leading or chastening of God. I do know several people who think like that. But if we have no choice about what happens in our lives, then we are helpless victims living in a hopeless world. If we are at the mercy of circumstance, then what’s the point? We might as well be animals because they don’t have any control over their lives either.
That’s the natural progression of a society that has taken the God of Creation out of life. I don’t believe that Solomon went so far as to deny that God exists…he just lost sight of Him for a while. The effect was the same though. Solomon came to the conclusion that there wasn’t much point in anything because we are all going to wind up dead, so why bother.
Well, for one thing, God told us in Genesis that we aren’t like the animals, that we are like Him and better than the animals.
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.” Genesis 1:26-30 KJV
How wonderful! We don’t need to look for meaning in each moment, because God, by creating us in His image, worked meaning into our DNA. We don’t have to search for meaning, find excitement or build a legacy because God has given it to us. Our legacy has almost nothing to do with right now and everything to do with eternity. Look at these quotes from Ellen White:
Next to the angelic beings, the human family, formed in the image of God, are the noblest of His created works.--RH Dec. 3, 1908. {TA 48.2} The Lord . . . had endowed Adam with powers of mind superior to any living creature that He had made. His mental powers were but little lower than those of the angels.--RH Feb. 24, 1874. {TA 48.3} God created man for His own glory, that after test and trial the human family might become one with the heavenly family. It was God's purpose to repopulate heaven with the human family.--1BC 1082. {TA 48.7} The vacancies made in heaven by the fall of Satan and his angels will be filled by the redeemed of the Lord.--RH May 29, 1900. {TA 49.1}
So, let’s not live “in the moment”, let’s live for eternity!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment