The Gift of Life

Do you enjoy getting presents?  Receiving an item that you've had your eye on for days, months, or maybe even years is always thrilling.  I believe everyone would say that is something they enjoy.  For the past two years, I have spent as much time as I possibly can learning things about Ford trucks.  I'm obsessed with them!  The probability that my next vehicle will feature a blue oval somewhere on the body is pretty high (by the way, I LOVE getting gifts, and if anyone wants to give me an F-150 you're more than welcome).  But the point of this article is not to discuss Ford trucks.  It's much more important than that.  I want to offer a new outlook on life that has helped me tremendously.

I'm not ashamed to say that throughout my life since I was about 13 I've had bouts with depression and anxiety.  I don't believe it's a stretch to assume that I'm not alone in that struggle.  As some of you probably know all too well, it can be hard to get out of bed and enjoy anything when your down in the dumps.  You, like me, have probably tried many things in a failed attempt to remedy the situation.  What I want to offer today is a new way to look at life that will, Lord willing, enrich your life as much as it has mine.

Back to my original question, I love getting gifts.  The only thing I love more than getting my favorite gift is getting more than one of it.  Two boxes of Little Debbie's are better than one.  Two F-150's are better than one (sorry, couldn't resist).  You get the picture.  What is my point?  My point is that today is a gift!  Today is the most precious and perfect gift from the Almighty God.

The average life expectancy in the United States is around 78.75 years of age (I rounded up to 79 for this illustration).  79 years of life equals 28,835 days.  That's 28,835 of the greatest gifts you could ever be given.  I would be in "hog heaven" if I had 28,835 Ford F-150s.  Something so simple as life is often overlooked.  But it gets even better.  For the majority of people, the majority of those days are filled with good health and happiness.  I get happy just thinking about it.

Psalm 118:24 reads, "This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it." We have an amazing blessing to enjoy today! Let's get to it!

Prescription Worship

If you have high blood pressure, your doctor may prescribe you Lisinopril.  That is your prescription.  Legally you are not able to get any other medicine at the pharmacy than the Lisinopril on your prescription.  If you like another blood pressure medicine better, too bad!  Your doctor prescribed Lisinopril and that is what you are to take.  You are to take the correct mg at the time he prescribed you to take it.  I think that is something we all understand fairly well.  We understand the importance of taking the prescribed medicine at the right time with the correct dose.  Why then do we feel so much liberty to change the prescribed worship of God? David Platt, in his book Radical, poses this question:

"What if we take away the cool music and the cushioned chairs?  What if the screens are gone and the stage is no longer decorated? What if the air conditioning is off and the comforts are removed?  Would his word still be enough for his people to come to worship?"

The answer is "YES!" to whether or not the Word is still enough in this day and time! Unfortunately, if you take away the entertainment value, most people would abandon the church.  As A.W. Tozer noted in the 1960's, "Church members want to be entertained while they are edified."

If you attend most "churches" today, you will see all kinds of things: drums, guitars, flashing lights, smoke machines, etc.  It's hard to distinguish a church from a rock concert in a lot of the places.  My question is simple: can you find the prescription for all of these things in the Bible?  I invite you to look through the New Testament to try and find this prescription for church worship. 

Since none of those contemporary man-made ideas can be found, what can? (1) Prayer - Acts 2:42, (2) Breaking of bread - Acts 2:42, (3) Singing - Ephesians 5:19, (4) Preaching Christ - 2 Timothy 4:2; Acts 20:7, and finally (5) Giving of our means 2 Corinthians 8:9.

We have the prescription -- why would we want to deviate from it?

3 Things About God

How often do you dwell on the God?  What I mean is his existence, character, and being.  The truth is, I don't think about God as much as I should.  I want to quickly discuss 3 truths in regards to our God.

1. God is Real

According to the latest Pew Research Poll on the demography of Religion in America, roughly 17% of the population either don't affiliate with any religion (atheist, agnostic, etc.) or don't know/refuse to identify.  Those numbers are disturbing.  What that says is that nearly 1 out of every 5 Americans have some kind of doubt about the existence of God. The good news is that we can use our logic to prove his existence.

 

Cause and Effect

Everything that happens must have a cause.  Simple enough, right? Science has all but proven that the universe has not existed forever. Dr. Robert Jastrow, a leading scientist at NASA, declared that "modern science denies an eternal existence to the universe."

If it is a fact that the universe has not always been here, then how did it come into being? We are left with 2 possibilities: (a) it created itself, or (b) it was created by something else not made of matter. Due to the Law of Conservation of Mass, we know that matter cannot be created or destroyed.  Option (a) is now off the table and we are left solely with option (b). 

 

Design

Take out your cell phone.  What are the chances, would you say, that your phone was assembled by random natural processes?  You're probably thinking, "that would be impossible, you big dummy," and you'd be right!  Our phones are based off of an intricate plan created by a designed, and then assembled by skilled workers who are familiar with the design.  Any modern luxury that we have works entirely the same way.  Why then do we try to force that illogical thinking on our universe?

 

 2. God Loves Us

For the sake of time, I will just quote one verse that says it all:

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8, ESV)

 

3. God Has Communicated With Us

We've established that God is real, and that he loves us.  It is only logical with that being the case that he has communicated with us.  He has spoken to us in two ways: (a) through nature, and (b) through his word.

 

Through Nature

We can look around and see the beauty of our Lord.  The trees and grass so green, the blue of the skies.  His glory is everywhere throughout the natural world.  The Apostle Paul took note of this great fact in Romans 1:20,

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

 

Through His Word

Think about it: the Bible is composed of 66 books united in perfect harmony and was written over a span of some 1500-2000 years with several different authors.  It is truly amazing the evidence our God has given to us for his existence.