Having "All Things" in Christ and a Flat Screen TV Too!

Yesterday I was driving through our neighborhood and saw a rooftop TV antenna, bringing to mind the days when we had little TV sets with rabbit ears and 3 channels. When we got rooftop antennas with more reception, we were ecstatic. And then, color TV. I remember feeling deprived that we still had a black-and-white when others had color. Imagine that; I thought a color TV would make me happy.

But it did not take me long to realize the fleeting pleasure of “things.” A very wealthy and wise King Solomon said, “Human desire is never satisfied” (Prov. 27:20). And who better to attest to the vanity of “things.” He had every “thing” (Eccl. 1:8). If he were alive today, no doubt he would have a humongous home theater!

Jesus warned of vainly pursuing “things” (Matt. 6:32); yet promised to give us “all things:” every “thing” we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), the spiritual, psychological, and physical resources required to accomplish the “things” He created us to do.  (Eph. 2:10; Phil. 2:12-14). But in order to take full possession of “all things,” we must let go of our “things.” And there isn't any “thing” worth more than that (Matt. 16:26)!

How will you Spend your Time this Year?

Last year, I found a testimony on Youtube of a man about my age whose pancreatic cancer had returned after 3 years in remission. I signed up to follow his medical/personal updates on CaringBridge, curious to see how his imminent passing had changed his priorities. But, sadly, he only spoke of his leisure activities, hobbies, and travel—a stark reminder to me of how much people hold on to the things of earth, even as they approach their final days. The Spirit brought to my mind these words: “Number our days [realize the brevity of life]” (Ps. 90:12) so we can “make the most of our time [opportunities]” (Eph. 5:16).

In his book “Nearing Home,” Billy Graham wrote, “God doesn't want us to waste our latter years or spend them in superficial, meaningless pursuits. Instead, He wants us to use them in whatever ways we can to influence those who will come after us. God wants us to finish well.” That has certainly been my and Altha’s intent.  But you don’t have to be in your latter years, or facing death, to pursue God with all of your heart. Spending your time on spiritual pursuits has no age limit. Consider Isaiah’s metaphor: “Why do you spend money [time] for what is not bread [life], and your wages for what does not satisfy?” (55:2)

What’s Holding You Up?

After writing yesterday’s post about ‘things,’ it occurred to me that if you let go of your things, if you had no thing, you would have “nothing.” It’s not easy letting go of our things, because we think the things we possess and the things we do are who we are. Without these things, we believe we are nothings!  That's what holds up our progress in faith.

We hold tightly the belief that our things are what holds us together.  So God holds up His Son as an example of one who wouldn't be held back, by things of the world.  It behooves us to consider what things are holding our attention, and may be holding us down.  We need to make an honest assessment of what prevents us from laying hold of the very truth that holds the key to life.  In the following verses, look at how Paul approached his holdings.

“I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. That means I examine every "thing" carefully, holding fast to that which is good (godliness) since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." (Phil. 3:12; 1Thess. 5:21; 1 Tim 4:8). Paul would let nothing (no thing) hold him up.

When Things Don't Work Out

A.W. Tozer said: “Before God made man, He first prepared a world of useful and pleasant things for him. But in the deep heart of man was a shrine where none but God was worthy to come, until sin entered, and God was forced out of His shrine, as things were allowed to enter, and take over.”

“Thing” is such an odd word—meaning nothing and everything at once. Miriam Webster says a “thing” is property and belongings, but also ideas and activities. We all have things occupying us.  And more to the point, we are painfully aware of the things that force God out of the shrine of our hearts.

We live in a world where we measure our worth by how many things we have and how well we get things done. We value making things or collecting things, but are not shy about throwing things away. We like shiny things and tiny things. We despise useless things. We like to allow things to happen, try new things, shake things up, and set things straight. And we hate it when things fall apart.

When Jesus came to the home of Mary and Martha, He gave them a lesson on “things.” While Mary sat at the Lord's feet, listening to Him, Martha was distracted by her preparations. Telling Him about the “things” she had to do, Jesus said, "you are worried and bothered about too many “things,” when only one “thing” matters; and that's the “thing” Mary has chosen.  While Martha was busy doing her thing, Mary had set her mind on things above. Now that is some thing to think about.

The “God Particle”

Yesterday, I read in the paper that scientists are on the brink of finding what holds the universe together: a never-before-seen subatomic particle thought to be a fundamental building block of the universe. Its nickname is "The God particle"—coined by the author of the 1993 book, “The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?” Since 1960, scientists have hypothesized that the “God particle” explains how, after the Big Bang, matter obtained mass. As such, it was the agent that made the stars, planets, and life possible; hence the nickname "God particle."

Today I read in the Bible, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see...Everything was created through Him and for Him. He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together” (Col. 1:15-17 NLT).

"It's the End of the World as We Know It"

R.E.M., allegedly one of the greatest rock bands of all time, announced yesterday they are ending their 31-year career. The reason this news item caught my attention is because of the “eye-grabbing” title of the article in today’s Mercury News: “The end of the world as we know it” (the title of one of their most well known songs).  Apparently, the author was trying to make the not-so-subtle connection that the world will never be the same without R.E.M.

The title holds more meaning than you might imagine at first. Our world is constantly changing. People change jobs or schools; people get married or divorced; people’s morals change; people get old; people die and people are born! Every day it is the end of the world as we know it.

But through our ever-changing world, God is at work behind the scene to break us of our addictions to people and possessions. Through the normal course of life, we are increasingly aware that we can only truly possess that which is eternal.  But in all honesty, most of us are afraid of losing our people and possessions—these are the things that define us.

In his book “The Pursuit of God,” A. W. Tozer has a chapter called, “The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing.” What is the secret of obtaining this blessing? It is this: “having everything, but possessing nothing” and “having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (John 17:10; 2 Cor. 6:10).