Do you know that by submitting to a greater reliance on a Word-centered life rather than a feeling-centered life, we become more substantive and less superficial in our worship and service to God? If done biblically, in spirit and truth, a Word-centered life encourages thinking without stripping us of our feelings and the ability to choose. It gives meaning to everything that we do instead of following after meaningless superficiality.
In effect, we create a spiritual environment with the help of the Holy Spirit of spiritual stability for ourselves and becoming less prone to being tossed to and fro within the heart and mind. We are essentially trading in unreliable subjectivity (feelings) for steadfast objectivity (the Word of God) as our standard of measurement, not theoretically but practically.
To be sure, it is impossible to jettison feelings altogether like a Vulcan in Star Trek, but we can make an effort to bring our thinking, feeling, and choosing in unison to live a more balanced life by obeying Scripture rather than being driven by self-impulse. To be sure, feelings come and go do they not, but the Word of God abides forever! Now, that’s solidity and stability.
I cannot stress enough how vital it is that we commit to ever expanding our base of knowledge of God, increasing our awareness of God, and growing deeper in our commitment to the truth of God on a daily basis, regardless of our age. In so doing, we bring or maintain stability to our lives in an increasingly unstable world. We find ourselves with a greater desire for all things God, aspiring to make a difference for the glory of God rather than simply to continue investing in selfish desires of the past, thinking we can hitch a U-Haul trailer to our coffin or give that impression to others.
Our life is a blur; we are here one moment and then vanishing like the dew before the morning sun (Job 14:1-2; Psa 39:5; Jas 4:14; 1 Pet 1:24). So, for a believer living for God, it is an urgent matter! My wife, Beverly, was reflecting on the brevity of life just yesterday and made a comment to me about it. I told her this.
“Rather than being saddened by the shortness of life, look at it from another point of view. It is actually a blessing from God that life is, indeed, brief, and we fly away (cf. Psa 90:10). For one, it motivates us to invest in the things of God that will last for eternity. Two, it limits our exposure to the effects of sin, and three, it reduces our time here on terra firma so that we can be with Jesus in glory forever!”
“Rather than being saddened by the shortness of life, look at it from another point of view. It is actually a blessing from God that life is, indeed, brief, and we fly away (cf. Psa 90:10). For one, it motivates us to invest in the things of God that will last for eternity. Two, it limits our exposure to the effects of sin, and three, it reduces our time here on terra firma so that we can be with Jesus in glory forever!”
Can you imagine living over nine hundred years on earth and having to put up with the evil one, the world, and the flesh! Only seven men belonged to the 900 Club. I will group them by “youngest” to the oldest rather than list them by historical chronology:
Enosh – 905
Cainan – 910
Seth – 912
Adam – 930
Noah – 950
Jared – 962
Methuselah – 969
We that are older, but way younger than the members of the 900 Club, realize in our cultural upbringing that the first eighteen years are the longest period of our lives, being so eager to become “adults” and be on our own! I thought I would never get there; it was a hair faster than snail speed! Then the blur happens; we just made a quantum leap! The next thing we know; we are not liking what we see in the mirror! The younger generations are considering us as fossils, useless, and taking up space and air. It was just yesterday that I was under my parent’s care, who are still living, by the way!
Now, according to my calculations, they are really ancient; I am sub-ancient but those members of the 900 Club were super ancient! Enoch was translated (raptured) at the ripe age of 365 (Gn 5:23-24); but that age holds no appeal to me, for the world is rapidly closing in on the time of Jacob’s trouble. Since the rapture of the Church is imminent, I am ready for glory.
Everything is moving at such a rapid pace in the universe. On planet earth, the worldview of the lost is nothing more than get-got-gone! Rhetorically speaking, should we as believers live by the yardstick of a lost and dying world, grabbing for any and all gusto because the one with the most toys wins? You know the answer to that. And being in torments in Hades, he [the rich man] lifted up his eyes … (Lk 16:23).
The world is heavily invested in feelings, satisfying the impulses of the flesh, for, in reality, that is all they got. What a distinctive difference between doing God’s will in our lives and living superficially by the world’s standards! King Solomon saw God’s will lasting forever (Eccl 3:14); it is only logical and sensible that if we do His will, it is the only thing we can do that will outlast this old world in terms of service to God (cf. 1 Cor 3:10-15; 1 Jn 2:16-17).
It was Jesus, Maker of heaven and earth, who said that heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away (Mt 24:35, NAS). With the Creator God, everything is Word-focused; therefore, to be godly is to be Word-driven in spirit, soul, and body. This means we are totally committed with every ounce of our being in learning the Word, loving the Word, and living the Word. The world will never get this due to willful unbelief (2 Cor 4:4); many so-called believers seem to never get it either! Like the world, they are more interested in running on the fuel of feelings, being empowered and entertained by self, driven by fleshly impulses for temporary gratification rather than having a heart tank full of the Word and being energized by the Spirit.
Naturally, squirrels store up nuts for the winter days, but what are you banking on when you step out into eternity? What are you investing in today or tomorrow? Salvation is only the beginning. If we are relying heavily on our salvation based upon the Word for our eternal destiny, should we not be equally invested in our sanctification of what the Word of God has to say about it down here? The same level of faith and trust is necessary for going to heaven in the future and living for God in the here and now.
It’s urgent that we stop any entertainment of the flesh that opposes the will of God and start investing vigorously into the will of God for the edification of our souls as well as for the benefit of others until it’s time for us to go via rapture or R.I.P. This is a sound biblical investment strategy for all believers of the faith. You will never hear this from some spurious spiritual adrenaline junkie of the world taking you for a ride! <><
(Col 3:1) If then [“since,” added for clarification] you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
(Col 3:2) Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
(Lk 12:34) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
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