When you get a new toy, whether it is an action figure, a new phone or a television, your first instinct is to protect it and keep it looking shiny and new. Do you leave it in the rain? Do you drop it on the ground? Drag it through the mud? No, that would do nothing but batter and bruise it.
So why then, do we do that with our lives? The lives we are
living are all new and wonderful gifts from God. Yet we drench our minds with
bad shows. We drop bad music into our brains. We drag this gift through the
world, this imperfect, unholy, scary world. We are battered and bruised, some
of us beyond recognition.
God gives us this life to live for him. It’s his life, his
gift that has been given to us, that we may use it properly, to bring people to
know him. How am I supposed to do that when I am immersing myself in this
world, this evil? I pray that God will show me (and you) what he wants me (us)
to do with his perfect gift that we so easily ruin.
However, no matter how much we attempt to destroy this
perfect gift, it never ends. Now, this is where it gets confusing. This doesn’t
mean we won’t die, of course we will. But beyond the gift of life, God has
given us another; this gift God has given us is the gift of eternal life. And
though we lie, cheat, steal and hurt others, God still loves us. We are never
crushed, abandoned or ultimately, destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).
No matter how hard we try, our new toy always gets worn,
beaten and in the end, destroyed. Much like our lives. No matter how much we do
to work against it, the world tarnishes, scratches and bruises this gift. But
unlike our new toy, our lives don’t get destroyed. Yes, there are many sad
cases of lives being destroyed, people dying without knowing the Lord. But
there are many that will hear of this great gift we’ve been given, and will
begin to repair it, working towards the end goal: eternal life.
Though the world presses down on us, trying to cause us to destroy
our gift, God is always there protecting us, reminding us of the wonderful life
He has given us, and how much He has in store for us if we simply hold on.
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but
not in despair; persecuted, but not
abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
Great post! I like the analogy of a toy and its newness compared to the gift of Christ; it's a good perspective, especially since I just got a bunch of new things! It also reminds me of the bruised vs. broken reed story in the bible we talked about during camping; that God will allow us to be bent and bruised but not broken. Never beyond what we can bear, and certainly not beyond what he can work with and restore! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yeah, I just found when I thought about it that way, I am terrible with being careful with what I watch or listen to, but when I have a new book or phone, I am SO careful not to mess it up.
DeleteAnd it`s so encouraging to know we won`t be broken, because there have been many times where it seems that way, but we never break.