Our Lives Matter

April 25, 2016

Our Lives Matter

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.

He will not rebuke you for asking.

James 1:5

I wonder how often the presidential candidates ask God for wisdom. All of them make their proposals for great programs that are going to change our country. Then I look at how well the government has operated the programs at the VA, or the Affordable Care Act, or the IRS, or the water system in Flint, or just about any other government program. I don’t want to become a grumpy old cynic, but it is hard for me to take the politicians seriously. The shame is that it doesn’t have to be this way.

The Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes was written by a great cynic. In observing his times he wrote, “Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny. The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they? In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?” (Ecclesiastes 6: 10-12). I wonder if that writer was the model for Eeyore in the Winnie-the-Poop stories.

Actually that cynical writer was spot on in his assessment of his times. But our times are different. We have the mind of Christ and the promise of wisdom from God. This means we can live as the persons we were created to be, the children of God. Together with the Apostle Paul we can proclaim, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:10 NRSV). This means when we accept our calling to be co-laborers with Christ, building for his coming Kingdom, our lives matter! Our lives might be but a shadow in the grand scheme of things, but what we do for Christ will be a blessing unto God for all eternity.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.