The World vs. the Heavenlies
Where do I start? So much has been written about the world’s contrast to Heaven. Many, many people don’t have a clue about the heavenlies, of God’s realm. I’m not an authority, but I know that all things good come from God. Only He is good. Humanly speaking, we want good things–we want to be good, right, we want good endings to stories, to have our needs met, etc. That’s the general consensus. In the movies, we root for the good guys like, John Wayne, Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, or Batman, Superman, Spiderman. If that’s the case, why do people want good things in life until they face the choice of going to church to worship God, the Author of goodness?
Perhaps it’s due to a phenomenon that exists in the world that curbs one’s thinking. It’s called pride, or more specifically, self-image, a self-serving consciousness. It may be subliminal, an unconcious motivator because the world preaches it at us all our lives–it’s the message that we are self-made successes, and we need no one to help us, including God. That’s not to excuse it, it’s just a fact of living in America, being spoiled with many riches the rest of the world lacks. We want to be admired, we deserve the best, and we are worth it. A lot of consumers spend more money than they make. Since we buy into all the commercials on TV, is it because we believe what the commercials say? I don’t have to buy that new car to impress the neighbor who I don’t even like; …no, we don’t have to color our hair;… no, I don’t want any of that cream to firm up my face…well, I would like that;… no, we don’t have to buy the work-0ut machine; …no, I do not need the gizmo for my kitchen or that juicer. I really don’t need anything the world offers via commercials. I can make it to tomorrow without seeing that movie, and I’ll pick my own movie, thank you very much. I don’t need to spend $15 for a meal at the new popular restaurant. A charity or church ministry would appreciate that money. Things are here today, gone tomorrow, even wonderful things we think we can’t live without. My experience has been that anything new eventually becomes humdrum. Then I look forward ’til I can get the next new thing until it has the same history as the older thing. What the world offers passes away “…but the will of God abides forever,” John 2:17. I had noticed women shopping for clothes before, but during one observation of a woman choosing a blouse, a thought came to me; it wasn’t about the woman or the item she had…it was just about shopping in general. It could have been any woman. She was holding up a blouse, considering it when I thought to myself, “The shirt she’s wearing probably went through the same scrutiny. What’s wrong with the one she has on? Why does she need another one?” I quickly reminded myself I was shopping for the same reason. What we have isn’t good enough. We need new stuff. Why is that?
Also, I’ve noticed people want to live a long time…even 100 years. People want to put off death because they are uncertain about how they’ll end up. Living 0ne-hundred years is longer than living 75 years, but compared to eternity, it’s still just a moment, a longer moment, but it’s still short of forever.
Human beings want good to happen and good things, but not always God. God’s good and the world’s good aren’t synonymous. Wanting things to bring them happiness and making them feel successful, wanting to live a long time, but in the long run, going after these things has caused Americans to progressively become a selfish, degenerate, fickle, self-serving, greedy, arrogant population. Americans want what we want when we want it. We are very spoiled. In light of the election, no President can get us out of the economic mess we’ve made. The conditions of America are irreparable without God’s help. We have become arrogant in our discarding His Word. If we would live by the Sermon on the Mount, we would have His blessing. Politicians, GOP and liberal, are slipping and sliding around in relative truth. This confusion generates more and more laws that cannot possibly be enforced because everyone, allegedly, has “rights.” Authorities cannot be fair when they are making exceptions for everyone’s personal situations with situational ethics. This is exactly how many Americans mock God. The pride it takes to do that–and the stupidity. He is faithful, forgiving, kind, and compassionate, but He is also The Judge. Read Jeremiah, or Ezekiel. We don’t need thousands of laws if we aim to live by the Scriptures. American Christians make an effort to do this, more or less, and are being labeled bigots by the secular press to silence us. Refusal to change our beliefs to be politically correct is not bigotry. But many politically correct leaders apply their personal “rights”, rationalizing, compromising, and perverting moral law to promote themselves. Meanwhile, America is digging herself into an amoral pit and without Jesus we will not get out.
Jesus was God the Son. He is still God the Son in Heaven. The Heavenlies are the things we associate with Him. God was willing to stoop low enough to experience the painful humiliation of sending Jesus to the injustice of the cross. The thought that some things are beneath us, that we deserve better, or that we really should be served instead of serving, denies the very essence of Jesus and our identity in Him. Jesus’ followers will gladly live to serve because that’s what He did 24/7. And we do it all the way home to Heaven, whether anyone notices or not. God notices. When I get to Heaven, I hope He will say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
