Life's (S)tuff

People, this is harder than I thought. I have not expressed my personal thoughts here in quite some time and have to admit that it's difficult to connect everything that I have been meaning to write. With so much going on in the past few months, it's challenging to wrap my mind around recent events which have impacted me both directly and indirectly.

Nonetheless, I'm not sure about you, but things have seemed to change - and I'm not referring to the fact that I rotated my tires last week, or changed my oil, or ran out of staples in my Swingline. The fact that my front driver-side tire is now on the rear passenger-side does not impact my spiritual well-being. Nor does the oil indicator, which now displays 95% oil quality, impact my spiritual stability. And the empty stapler? Well, it's just too bad that I will no longer have the ability to ply corners of multiple sheets of paper - until the moment I go to the administrative assistant and ask for a refill. Now THAT will certainly knock me off-track in life. If you haven't sensed the sarcasm, go drink some coffee. These changes are bound to occur as materials wear out and get exhausted. They are not eternal – not even close. In fact,

...the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 2 Peter 3:10

You gotta love the straight-forward, no-joke logic of God's word. Isn't it interesting though that the modern world is all about material well-being? People today live, breathe, think, and dream about having a bunch of stuff which the Bible says will eventually "melt with fervent heat". What a great investment, huh?! This is the change I was referring to.

This is a time in which Christian's must be vigilant more than ever before. In the verse that follows Peter's warning of what to expect of "stuff" in the last days, he dives into a stern reminder of an alternate path for believers. Now, there is a great deal of controversy and plenty to say about what type of “things” are/n’t acceptable for believers, but I assume most of us are aware of the 1 Corinthians 10:23 rule. I've brought up this example in discussions with friends in the recent days and feel it fits right into the flow of this post. Google recently announced a new feature called "+1" which is similar to the "Like" button on Facebook. In short, as you "Google" something, the +1 will supposedly appear next to search results and you can click it to "like" a particular search result - so as to indicate it was a helpful link. No big deal, right? Wrong. Following Google's announcement of this feature, there was much excitement (positive and negative) in the tech press/media. Upon reading some of the feedback, I realized how ridiculous this was. Google is adding a simple hyperlink to their website and it's got people flailing their arms in the air like they're being chased by a grizzly. It doesn't end there - this announcement directly impacted Google's stock, indicating that investors too had mixed reactions to this new "feature". But come on… really? Is this seriously what throws us to the floor, kicking and screaming like spoiled children? Is this how thin and shallow life is today? Unfortunately, for those who do not know God, yes - it's that shallow. But what's even more unfortunate, it's the same for some Christian's who once had the desire to serve the Lord with all their heart! Now, their priorities have changed; the material of this world has become their idol and their sacrifice to the Lord, is weekly attendance of a church service.

To be frank, I think that more of us are engulfed by this lifestyle than we want to admit. More of us are losing the grasp of a direct relationship with our Lord, who suffered a gruesome death upon a rugged cross for our sins. Certainly, each at his own level and to a particular extent, but the main idea of 2 Peter 3:10 is so critical to our life today: all the material things of this world will one day be gone. So Peter continues:

Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation... 2 Peter 3:11-15

Does this passage not magnify the incredible need for us to stay focused on our personal walk before the Lord? It's an amazing reminder to be in holy conduct, godliness, and to be diligent, without spot and blameless. Brothers and sisters in Christ, wake up! Get back on that path of living for the Lord and not for yourselves! Turn back those days when you quenched your thirst with God's word and the material of this world was anything but tied to your heart. It is my sincere desire that anyone reading this post will consider it worthy to take it's contents into consideration - for it is God who spoke through Peter, "be diligent to be found by Him in peace".