Monday, January 30, 2017

old-car-2Have you ever had a hobby that you couldn’t wait to get to the place or find the time to do it?  Then, one morning that desire was gone.  Perhaps you developed another hobby, or you woke up and wondered why you had engaged in the old one?  We buy new automobiles, not because the old one developed problems or had too many miles, but because the new one has one or more features that were missing in the old one.  We are constantly renewing things around us because we live in a finite world.

Things wear out.  Things break or quit.  Even light bulbs with a ten year guarantee burn out.  You graduate from high school and ten years later at a class reunion you don’t recognize anyone.   The beautiful people have put on 40 pounds and exchanged beauty for weight. You get your first job and then dream of retiring.  The place where you grew up shrinks with time.  The face of the neighborhood changes.  We live in a finite world where nothing stays the same.

You’re young and the world lies at your feet.  Too soon the rug of youth is jerked from under your feet as age stares back from the mirror.  Your hair turns gray or disappears.  Stairs once taken easily in twos, wear you out one at a time.  Friends your age are getting sick and dying.  You see a quarter on the ground, but a bad hip or faltering knees send you pass it.  We live in a finite world where nothing stays the same.

Things may not stay the same, but there is a person who does.  The Hebrew writer stated, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).  Jesus came to offer us something that is infinite.  Something that will never fade nor grow old.  Something that is not restricted to time nor its ravages.  It is difficult for finite beings to understand eternity, but Jesus made receiving it possible.  Why not seek him?  He is not far away (Acts 17:27).  He offers that marvelous abundant life (John 10:10; 3:15-16).  When Peter proclaimed him to the multitude on Pentecost, about three thousand gladly received his message, believed it, and were baptized (Acts 2:41).  Are you in that crowd that is  interested only in the finite or do you desire the infinite?