Closing Remarks

A new year is approaching - 2008. Wow, I honestly cannot believe it will be 2008 in just a few days. Each new years eve that passes I am always in awe of how fast time has gone by and excited at what the upcoming year will bring. I am also increasingly aware of the end being near and of the return of Christ. I know that Paul preached of the urgency of Christ's coming some 2000 years ago and 2000 years later he still hasn't returned, but that does not negate the fact that he will and can at any moment. There are times when, struggling with self-pity, wrestling with anxiety, or just outright indifferent, the Lord brings to my mind the truth and urgency of being ready for his return, and my outlook changes. That isn't to say "fear" is the driving force of my spirituality, it isn't. But often we need to be motivated - jolted - by perspective greater and more permanent than ours. We live the time that a match flickers, which is not long enough to spend indulging in extremes for the sake of extremes. I'm often irked by those who use the popular line "You only live once" to rationalize being and doing stupid things. Granted, we do only live once, so how do we do it right? How do we do it in such a way that when we find ourselves in eternity, we will not look back in regret at how we chose to live? Living with greater perspective means looking up instead of down, looking out instead of in.

I've met a tonne of people with no, or little, perspective. Some are even in my own family. And it pains me to see choices made with no, or little, wisdom. Which is understandable because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and if God is nowhere in sight in one's life, where can wisdom flow from? Intelligence and human intellect does not equal wisdom. One can be smart by human standards, and yet a fool in the eyes of God. And to say the least, I've seen my fair share of foolishness in the last year, even in the last month, by myself included. By no means am I exempt from being stupid at times, but by God's grace I am able to recognize my stupidity and reconcile myself to who I really am in Christ. But for those whose belief to begin with lacks a firm foundation, living by faith and with a perspective greater than one's own is next to impossible. It is absolutely necessary to check and evaluate our belief system for how it merges with - influences, affects - our reality. To quote Beth Moore, "Our theology must merge with our reality." There is no such thing as a vibrant, God-centered life separate from emotional/physical/mental self. Real faith is in the living out of our Christianity in every single aspect of life. Yes, some aspects are more difficult to conquer than others but living by faith is living with the power of God, of which nothing is impossible or too difficult.

Knowledge of God's truth needs to move from our head to our heart. I've met too many people who know much but believe little. If Christians everywhere believed with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength - I mean really believed God at His Word - the face of Christianity today and Christian living would look very different. But, I know that we are all at a different point - or perhaps pit-stop - in our journey with Christ and no amount of human pleading or endeavors to convict can change one's heart or direction in life. No, and glad I am at the fact that only God can be God and do what God can do. But believe me when I say I will and am praying for you.

So, as 2007 comes to an end, my only hope for you and I this upcoming year is that we will experience a permanent merging of our theology and reality as we learn to believe God at His Word and live by faith.