Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Hebrews 12:2 . . . looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
PERSPECTIVE: A VIEW OF TIME
In one fictional book about India, taking place before Indian Independence, one Indian deliberates on the greater joys of the Indians' slow, easy-going enjoyment of life as compared to the hectic industrial attitude of the British. His friend responds that Indians will never be free until they learn the value of British proverbs. "A stitch in time saves nine" and "time is money" are two examples he gives. One's perspective on time certainly has a vast influence on the manner of life that he lives.
One problem we often have is that we view "now" as the only important time. The vast amount of credit card debt that Americans accumulate testifies to this simple fact that the only thing we care about is now. Anything that has to do with a future time is ethereal to us. We have trouble caring or even believing it will ever matter. But what is God's perspective? Now is the time to look to the future. "For the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame" -- see what perspective Christ took. The present was absolutely unimportant to Him when His eyes were focused on the goal.
When we allow our thoughts to skip the small dimensions of now to the greater time of eternity, everything in this life becomes immaterial except as means to give the grace of God and the joys of eternity to all others. We realize why a Christian education is so important because we are not as concerned with preparing our kids for now as we are for then. We realize why preaching the word is greater charity than giving away bags full of gold. We realize why Sunday services are more important than enjoying the beautiful summer day. We are learning to enjoy the day of "then" rather than now.
Change Your Perspective: Stay Focused on God's Eternity
