I’m particularly happy this morning because Love Shine Through has arrived!
I thought it would be a good time to share a little of what I have been learning most recently about my heavenly Father.
Someone asked me recently, “what is it that’s so good about being a Christian?” This really made me think – why is it that I have such a passion to see people come to know my King and have a relationship with Him? Until recently, I think I would probably have responded with a fairly ‘loose’ answer, heading towards something involving the phrases, “hope of eternity” or, “eternal life”. However, is this the only reason that I strive to love my God with my heart, soul, mind and strength?
We live in a world where nothing is certain and nothing is truly reliable. I think that I would go so far as to say that there is nothing on which we can rely 100% of the time. Things are forever going wrong! Computers, cars, bus drivers, houses, road surfaces, the weather…the things that we moan about all the time…these are the things that we just WISH would be more reliable. If only, we ask. If only we could find something material to rely on. Yet however hard we try, we’re going to come up short.
Of course, material things such as these are not the only things in which we can place our hope and trust. We can rely on people…can’t we? Well, most of the time, yes we can. But I have yet to find anyone who is completely reliable in every way. This is no reflection on the people that I spend time with, I’m just making the point that there is no-one living on this planet who can claim to be 100% reliable and 100% trustworthy. And I can confidently include myself in that – I know better than most that I let people down quite regularly, both through what I say and through what I do. While we may find that some are more reliable than others, we are forced to conclude that eventually, everyone will let us down in one way or another.
We crave something constant.
Can we put our trust in disciplines, like science? Sadly not, for again, here we find that science is unable to provide answers for our questions. It goes a long way to answering them in a very comprehensive way, but by no means does science explain everything. This is a fact that scientists do not deny, admirably. The idea is that maybe one day, science will have worked everything out. Are we going to sit around and wait for that day to come?
Like any good house, we are best built on some kind of foundation. Where can we find a firm foundation for our lives?
Can we found our lives on people, or are they going to eventually let us down? Can we build our lives on our job, or is there the possibility that we might wake up one morning and find it gone? Can we build our lives on our homes, our cars, our toys? Can we rely that they will always remain?
Tragically, we have seen recently the terrible events in Japan. People’s lives have quite literally come crashing down around them, and they are left with nothing. Thinking of the people in that position is heartbreaking. I cannot even begin to comprehend. The structures that they were reliant upon every day have all but disappeared – in some cases all that remains are the clothes they wear. The English language doesn’t really have any words to describe it, so I’m not going to try.
This shows us that we can’t really rely on anything here on earth without the risk of losing it. But let’s say for a moment, what happens if we don’t lose it? What happens if we find something in our lives that does remain faithful until the end?
Well that’s just it – the end. We can’t take it with us when we die.
Now I’m pretty sure that some of you kind people who have taken the time to read this are now thinking, ‘there isn’t anything after we die…so what’s the problem?’ I’m going to dare to suggest that it is very brave to believe such a thing, because what happens if there is life after death after all?
I cannot offer you any proof of anything beyond the grave. Perhaps you are right, and there isn’t anything. However on the off-chance that you may be wrong, I’d like to offer some logical suggestions.
Let’s assume for a moment that there is such a thing as eternity. If this is the case, what is it that we are looking for? We are looking for something that we can use as a foundation for our lives, both here on earth and also after we die. We are looking for something that is eternal, completely trustworthy and completely reliable.
God.
So why is this important for us today? Why can’t we wait until we are just about to die, and then deal with our potential eternity then? Because if God is real, there is nothing better that we can do than live for Him right now. No other decision is more important, and no other decision is so amazing. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Salvation is free…but discipleship will cost you your life.” We should be endeavouring to become the best disciples we can be, because waiting now is wasting time.
In addition, if God is this eternal foundation that we desperately need in our lives, why should we waste our time? Surely the best thing we can do is start resting our lives on Him, today.
I’m going to offer my response to the question, ”what is it that’s so good about being a Christian?”
Living a Christ-centred life means that we have a foundation for our lives. We base everything we do on the one thing that will never, ever fail. Even after we die, this foundation lasts. From now until eternity, we have a solid rock on which to stand.
This is something that we cannot find elsewhere. Personally, I have had to learn that basing our lives around relationships with other people leaves us floundering. Sooner or later, something will end up surprising us and the nature of that relationship will change. We end up losing our foundation.
Indeed, the relationships between boyfriend and girlfriend or husband and wife benefit greatly from resting on God as a foundation. Even when one is let down by the other, the relationship can remain as long as God remains in His rightful place.
My passion is not solely for people to have a hope for eternity, and eternal life with my Father. My passion is to see people live their lives with a solid, firm foundation – I want to see people fall in love with the King of the Universe, because He will never let them down, no matter what happens.
Jesus said, “I have come that [all] may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10, NIV).
In order to live the best life that we possibly can, we must rely on God wholeheartedly.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take. – Proverbs 3:5-6, NLT.
