Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Your Life Two Thousand Years From Now

A few years ago the band 4Him wrote a song titled, “A Man You Would Write About”.  It’s a thought provoking song leading the listener to consider what would be written about their life if scripture was still being written.  Here’s a link to read the lyrics http://www.songlyrics.com/4him/a-man-you-would-write-about-lyrics/ .

Imagine if your life was recorded in Biblical history for the entire world to read. (There's a thought that chills your whiskers!)  Consider a few people whose lives were:

Adam and Eve – they’re responsible for condemning the entire human race to life outside of God’s intended plan for the world.  Genesis 3 

Cain is a murderer. He kills his brother.  Genesis 4

Sarah doesn’t believe God’s promise that she’ll get pregnant when she’s clearly past childbearing age. She has the audacity to laugh at God.  Genesis 18 

Rahab is a prostitute. Yes, she serves God when she protects the men Joshua sends to scope out the city of Jericho, but the fact that she’s a prostitute is still included in the Biblical historical record.  Joshua

Abraham is generally portrayed as a man of God but even he has his weaknesses. Essentially he prostitutes out his wife not once, but twice, to save his own skin when they arrive in foreign lands. Genesis 12 and Genesis 20 

Moses – we probably know more about Moses than most biblical characters. Typically we think of Moses as a faithful, obedient servant of God, but he’s not perfect either. Before God uses him to lead the captive Israelites out of Egypt, Moses kills an Egyptian, hides the body in a sand dune, and flees the country.   Exodus 2 

David commits adultery and murder and it’s recorded in black and white for us to read 2000 years later.  2 Samuel 11 

Jesus' disciples –The two most notable are Judas and Peter.  Judas makes a deal with the chief priests to turn Jesus over to them. For this betrayal he is paid 30 pieces of silver. Peter, who has sworn he will NEVER betray Jesus, denies any knowledge of Him three times the night Jesus is taken captive.  None of the disciples seem to speak up to defend Jesus in His darkest hour of need.   Matthew 26

Paul – before his conversion Paul's (previously named Saul) life amtition is to hunt down and kill as many Christians as he can.  Acts 8 & 9  and Acts 22 

I could go on but I think you get the message.

When I listen to the song written by 4Him there are two things I stop to consider.

1)      I’m so glad these people have their personal stories recorded in the Bible. Granted it might embarrass them if they were still alive to read it 2000 years later but it’s encouraging for me.  Other than Jesus, there isn’t one person on God’s roster who hasn’t made a mess of their life at some point in time. God isn’t looking for perfect people!

I’m not saying I take pleasure in hearing about someone else’s screw ups. All I’m saying is God still considers you and me useful servants in His ministries even if we’ve got a few smelly skeletons in our closets.

2)      Two thousand years from now, if someone was reading about my life what would it say? What do my day to day activities say about my priorities, about my relationship with God, about my belief in Jesus? What would scripture write about me?

Is the life I’m living today something I’d be proud to have written down for future generations?  Is yours?

Post your thoughts below by clicking on “comments”.

2 comments:

Jennifer said...

I think about my life twenty years from now, but I've never thought of it two thousand years from now. A sobering thought!

Thank you for your kind comments over at ASAG. I certainly believe all women could learn to drop the mask. It takes a lot of time and effort, but it's worthwhile.

Carol Henders said...

Thanks for commenting, Jennifer. I'm enjoying following your posts at http://jennifer-asag.blogspot.com