Complete
It is time to rejoice! How blessed it is to be able to rejoice in the presence of our precious Savior and Lord. Today I rejoice in Him! The birds are singing His praises. All creation is sounding out the news! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so "I am redeemed!" May we never take for granted the privilege of grace that has been so generously bestowed on our lives. I am so thankful for all that God has done for me and for all of His dear children.
The scripture tells us that we are treasures of the Lord. We are also trophies of God's grace. Bought with a great price, God has bestowed upon us all that pertains to life and joy. Each day I stand in awe of what He has done. Today, our society is fully consumerized (that's a new word, I just made up). We were people who were content with one another to a certain degree but than we began to hear thousands, no millions, of ads day after day, hour after hour, minute by minute, telling us that we really were not "complete". To be complete, we needed more. More of this and more of that was needed to make us "complete". So we invested in our completeness by purchasing everything that said it would make us "complete" only to find that a year down the road something more "complete" came along. As a result, we would have to get rid of the first thing that we thought completed us and buy this new thing that would surely do the job.
Gradually, women disappeared from the neighborhoods joining their husbands in the work force. More money was needed to make us "complete". We began to compare ourselves among ourselves, which the scripture tells us "is not wise" and found that we needed to step up the pace if we were to compete with those who appeared "complete". We bought larger homes. We began to rent storage facilities away from our homes to place items that had guaranteed our "completeness". Nothing really worked. Our families began to disintegrate in great numbers. It now required two working parents to make us "complete". Our children were farmed out to day care centers or private schools. The time we spent with them became less and less. So we gave them more and more to insure that they would be "complete". They, however, were more and more empty inside even though they were being smothered with things on the outside, things that were supposed to make them "complete". So the circle continues with each new generation stepping up to the plate and repeating the same mistakes. Some have seen the light and have stepped off the merry-go-round. Many however, will continue to strive for "completeness" until the day they die.
At that time the judge of all the earth will indeed do what is right, as He always has. He will judge us not based on our "completeness" but on what we have done with His son, our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. We will answer to Him for what we have or have not done. People blame religion for many things even for damaging our society. Religion has not helped but God, God has and does make all things right. Everything is about Him. The need to feel complete ends when we meet Him. The need to have more or compete with the neighbor is no more with Him. For He makes all things right. In Him we have all that we need for life, for He is life. He offers us an abundant life. So our love for things is like grabbing for smoke. You will never catch it and even if you did, it will not last for long. He is our completeness. He has the answers we are looking for. You cannot buy them no matter how much you may have. In the end you and I will stand before Him and answer for our lives. How did we live? What did we live for? And that my Friend is the Real Truth!
The scripture tells us that we are treasures of the Lord. We are also trophies of God's grace. Bought with a great price, God has bestowed upon us all that pertains to life and joy. Each day I stand in awe of what He has done. Today, our society is fully consumerized (that's a new word, I just made up). We were people who were content with one another to a certain degree but than we began to hear thousands, no millions, of ads day after day, hour after hour, minute by minute, telling us that we really were not "complete". To be complete, we needed more. More of this and more of that was needed to make us "complete". So we invested in our completeness by purchasing everything that said it would make us "complete" only to find that a year down the road something more "complete" came along. As a result, we would have to get rid of the first thing that we thought completed us and buy this new thing that would surely do the job.
Gradually, women disappeared from the neighborhoods joining their husbands in the work force. More money was needed to make us "complete". We began to compare ourselves among ourselves, which the scripture tells us "is not wise" and found that we needed to step up the pace if we were to compete with those who appeared "complete". We bought larger homes. We began to rent storage facilities away from our homes to place items that had guaranteed our "completeness". Nothing really worked. Our families began to disintegrate in great numbers. It now required two working parents to make us "complete". Our children were farmed out to day care centers or private schools. The time we spent with them became less and less. So we gave them more and more to insure that they would be "complete". They, however, were more and more empty inside even though they were being smothered with things on the outside, things that were supposed to make them "complete". So the circle continues with each new generation stepping up to the plate and repeating the same mistakes. Some have seen the light and have stepped off the merry-go-round. Many however, will continue to strive for "completeness" until the day they die.
At that time the judge of all the earth will indeed do what is right, as He always has. He will judge us not based on our "completeness" but on what we have done with His son, our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. We will answer to Him for what we have or have not done. People blame religion for many things even for damaging our society. Religion has not helped but God, God has and does make all things right. Everything is about Him. The need to feel complete ends when we meet Him. The need to have more or compete with the neighbor is no more with Him. For He makes all things right. In Him we have all that we need for life, for He is life. He offers us an abundant life. So our love for things is like grabbing for smoke. You will never catch it and even if you did, it will not last for long. He is our completeness. He has the answers we are looking for. You cannot buy them no matter how much you may have. In the end you and I will stand before Him and answer for our lives. How did we live? What did we live for? And that my Friend is the Real Truth!
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