Today we celebrate the life of a person who made history by stepping out to take a stand for his people. One that worked for equality amongst those of different races and backgrounds. Martin Luther King Jr. taught us a lot through his life and even more after his death. He reminds me of Jesus. No, I'm not saying that MLK was the Savior, but I will say that they both taught us a lot about life. Life will be our focus for the next few weeks. I have found that it is one of the hardest things that we as a people deal with and it's why so many are doing the crazy things that they do. It's the reason why people are taking their own life or the life of someone else. The things that are going on today happen more so because we have lost what the true value of life is really all about. We have lost the value of life because those that are suppose to be responsible for teaching us are not doing their part and we aren't doing ours to make sure we are being taught the right way. We have to understand that life comes with a lot of things and if we don't understand those things then we will continue to have a lot of problems as a people concerning life.
Life is defined as, the total substance of a person's existence. In a sense it is all of the things that you do, whether good or bad, that we/others use to define who we are. Like I said the substance can be good or it can be bad, but we have to understand that life is so much more than just a substance. The 1st thing we will talk about is how life can be shocking/surprising.
Luke 12:15-21 NLT says, "Then Jesus said, 'Beware! Don't be greedy for what you don't have. Real life is not measured by how much we own.' And he gave an illustration: 'A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. In fact, his barns were full to overflowing. So he said, 'I know! I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll have room enough to store everything. And I'll sit back and say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!' "But God said to him, 'You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get it all?' "Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God."
We can learn a lot here in this passage but today we will only deal with one area. It doesn't say it here but because of a humans natural instinct and the way we think, if it had been us in the illustration then we would've been shocked/surprised to know that all the thinking and work that we had done was really a waste of time because we just found out that tonight we are about to die. We hadn't planned on sharing anything with anyone or even trying to see whom we could help, but we were only focused on our own needs, desires and wants. Yes we would've been totally shocked and surprised. You know it's sad, but true, that we as a people have gotten so entangled with having only the finer things in life or more than enough, that the majority of us don't even care about the welfare of others anymore, which has led us to be surprised/shocked when certain things happen here in America or over in another country like Haiti. Understand that there is nothing wrong with having nice things or even having more than enough, but please know that life is about so much more than just material things. MLK Jr. and Jesus both displayed this to us through the way they lived their lives and how they were willing to take a stand for people. They weren't caught by surprise nor shocked when things went the way they did because they understood and knew what life was really all about. The mistake that most of us make/have made is that we have gotten caught up in things and other stuff, which ended up leaving us surprised about how our life is going/has gone thus far. In order for us to stop going through this period of shock/surprise then we must continuously prepare ourselves for our ultimate future. Your ultimate future should not be based on how much money you have, what position/title you hold, your status in life or who does or does not like you, but it should be based on you having a rich relationship with Christ because without that even if you had all the things in the world that you wanted you still wouldn't be happy. If you would only change your perspectives and priorities then the things that God can/will allow to happen in your life will no longer shock you or catch you by surprised. Be Blessed! -AJH
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