Shaken, Not Stirred

"Somebody help me tame this animal I have become"

- Three Days Grace

With all that's happening recently, I've observed that I'm significantly being shown more of what I don't have, resulting in a bevy of ugly attitudes and reactions from me. I mean, it's happening at work, at home, and everywhere else.

I used to believe that you gotta know the bad before you appreciate the good, until I quit smoking. I mean, I didn't have to go through cancer to appreciate the benefits of cigarette-free lungs. Thus, now I say that every experience, good or bad, has its own lessons to learn. This reinforces one line I first learned from church, one that I would never forget: "Nothing happens by accident."

You can twist this a bit and say "Everything happens for a reason." Though we've already talked about the possibilities behind the said reason coming at the right time, I'd like to also concentrate on what 'Everything' can mean. When I heard about it the first time, I found comfort in the fact that every single instance of something had a reason. Now that I think about it more, in the face of what's happening, I figure that there's a common reason behind the possibility of me having a split off next week, my dad's recent acquisition of an iPhone (with the ensuing and understood 'Technical Support' I must provide for it), my recent bouts of envy (see previous... article) and the real possibility of definite limitations imposed on my daily life due to this recession affecting the global economy - Just as there have been seven years of fattening back in the days of Joseph the dreamer, there just might be a proportional period of time for today's world to tighten their belts.

This act of 'thinning' goes beyond mere physical weight loss, in my opinion. I would like to think that we are now also forced to draw back on our ambitions, being content and thankful for what we already have. Those circumstances I've mentioned in the previous paragraph state something I lack, and I guess what needs to be done is to focus on what I already have - rather, to focus on what really matters.

I'm sure I talked about this before, but I just couldn't help but express my intrigue after seeing that these events, these situations, are occuring in such rapid succession over smaller periods of time. I may be yielding to my tendencies to add drama to something, but it's like these similar somethings actually mean something.

I planned to finish this as I came home from work today, but instead I went straight to bed. Now it's just a few hours later, a couple of hours shy of the time I have in my alarm clock. I open my Bible up, and this is the first verse I see:

"And then I (Solomon) realized that God is letting the world go on its sinful way so that he can test mankind, and so that men themselves will see that they are no better than beasts."

- Ecclesiastes 3:18

Some people testify that the Word hits them like a dagger to the heart at times. This is one of those times for me. The verse I gave to you there was directly from my Bible. In an attempt to save time, I went ahead and searched it online, to copy and paste it, and to save time. This is what I found - same verse, different version:

"I also thought, "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals."

I have failed what tests came up for me last week, and I truly see how beastly I am. What's worse is that I have all I need from the Word to conquer what goes against me, and still I surrender so easily to sinful nature that dominated me for the majority of my life.

But God's mercies are as high as the heavens are from the earth, and I guess I'm writing this to communicate to you, the reader, how futile it is to live in this world any further without God, without Jesus. The degenerative paths that our sinful natures leave us to follow to fill a seemingly bottomless pit that each and every one of us have will eventually leave us dead, broken, and unfulfilled. With all that's happening in the world nowadays, it won't be long till we will all be faced with an event which will no longer have any grey areas.

What do I mean? Let me take you to another verse that you might be a bit familiar with:

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."

- Matthew 6:24

According to the site I visited to get this passage, it came from the New American Standard Bible. As I scrolled up and down to look for the best version to paste here, I saw that some of them ended with, "Ye cannot serve God and mammon".

Wikipedia tells me that Mammon "is a term, derived from the Christian Bible, used to describe material wealth or greed, most often personified as a deity". The same article contained definitions of the term according to Webster and Winston, and one word piqued my interest: Cupidity. I clicked on it, and it led me to the Wiki article for greed - the "selfish desire for or pursuit of money, wealth, power, food, or other possessions, especially when this denies the same goods to others."

Think about that for a moment. "Money, wealth, power, food, or other possessions." Power is material. Thus, attention is material. Attraction is material. Lust is material. You can go ahead and rephrase the verse above to "Ye cannot serve God and everything that this world has to offer to ye."

It may shock you, but I'm here to tell you (and myself, obviously) that it isn't impossible to see how possible it is to follow that Word. The man who quoted it went on fasting for 40 days in the desert, and as He did that, He was literally offered everything in the world. Everything. And what did He say in response?

"Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"

- Luke 4:8

I have failed God. But all is not lost, not for me, nor is it for you. Think about this verse:

"For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted."

- Hebrews 2:18

It's not like you'll be all alone and unhappy if you make the right choice. The King of Kings, The Prince of Peace... He'll be with you. It couldn't be said any better than the verse that you will see on an In-N-Out Burger, when you have a chance to eat one:

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me."

- Revelation 3:20

Choose to open the door for Him, and don't let Him just stay in the living room.

As long as we have life, we still have the chance to truly let Him in, and I choose to practice my decision not only through these words, but through my actions. The time will come when you will have to do the same, and I pray that you also make the right decision.

The Lord bless you and keep you, dear reader.