For the next couple of weeks or so I would like for us consider “life.” It has been around ever since God made a man from the dust of the earth. The Genesis record records it like this: “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7). So life began and all of us are participants in it. One father said this about his son, “My son loves life but hates work.” But work is a vital part of life. Go back to Genesis 2 again. We read that God created the earth “…and there was no man to cultivate the ground” (2:5). God put the man He had made “…in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it” (2:15). From this we can readily see that mankind working was in place from the very beginning.
Over the great passage of time life has taken a hit. Our world is full of people who want that which you have worked so very hard to have. They want it without working for it. As a result crime is a major player in life.
Then there is the attitude often seen in statements like these: Life stinks! Life sucks! Life is not worth living! I truly hope you are not one who views life this way. I want to challenge your thinking with three choices about life:
You can just endure it. It is unfair. It is mean. Everything is against me. I cannot do anything about it. I just have to endure it.
You can try to escape it. I can use drugs. I can use alcohol. And any number of other ways to escape reality. After the high, there is reality again; you cannot escape it. And unless you change you will find yourself in a viscous circle. Know that is a sad reality for a people made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26).
You can enjoy it. That is the choice one needs to make. Yes, I know that often life is hard, unfair, disappointing and very frustrating. But in the midst of all that life is still so very precious. It is to be enjoyed, loved and embraced. That kind of attitude toward life will bless us when the difficulties and disappointments come our way.
God’s word has much to say about life. In the coming articles we will take a look at some of those passages. In the meantime if you have life questions, ask me — P.O. Box 1399, Kosciusko — I will do my best to answer. And if I cannot answer your question, I will try to find someone who can.
But for now, which of these three choices are you making?
— Les Ferguson Sr., South Huntington Church of Christ
