Every time I wake up
in the morning, one of the first things in my daily routine is to go
to the cabinet, take out my pill box and open the little lid that is
marked for that day and take out the 10 pills or so that are in the
box. I take them all with one swallow of water or lemonade,
whichever is in the refrigerator at the time. I repeat the procedure
in the evening about twelve hours later. In doing all of this, I am
reminded that we are living in an imperfect world. My body is
bearing the marks of a sinful generation and is gradually falling
apart. I have a primary care physician, a cardiologist, a pulmonary
specialist, a vascular specialist, a dentist, an ophthalmologist,
that are all trying to slow down the aging process. They can't stop
it, but they try their best to keep all of the parts of my body
working the best that they can and I am thankful for them and what
they do for all of us. Ultimately, it is God that is in control of
how many seconds are left in my life.
Galatians 2:20-21 says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me, and gave himself for me. I
do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the
law, then Christ is dead in vain.”
Even in our imperfect world,
there is hope for all people in the Lord Jesus Christ. If I were
just concerned with the physical aspects of my life, that would be
one thing, but there are also the spiritual aspects which have far
greater ramifications than the physical. It all began with the fall
of man in the Garden of Eden. The listing of the descendants
of Adam and Eve show a longevity of life that is far greater than our
own because their bodies started out prepared to live for eternity
and then something happened. Sin came into the picture and man's age
began to steadily drop. The oldest man was Methuselah
who lived some 969 years, but in the end, he too ended up in the
grave. Eventually, the age of man fell to 70 to 80 years. As one
preacher said here in our town, “I am in 'overtime.'” The
average is still in the later 70's for mankind. It comes out to 71.5
for men and 72.0 for women, so the threescore and ten still fits
mankind. Hope however, still comes to us in the fact that we are now
preparing for eternal life even though we keep taking the life giving
pills day by day. Paul mentioned that he was “crucified with
Christ but that he still lived due to Christ being in Him. It makes
no matter which sin is the greatest, I am guilty before God so much
that there would be no hope if it was just up to me. We are thankful
however, that due to the work of Christ on the cross, we have life
through Him. Eventually we will get that “perfect” body but the
ravages of sin prevent it from taking place in this life. If you
think your life is perfect, just take a look at Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
and see the Preacher's description of old age. We don't like to
admit to our sins and that probably is good to some extent, but one
should also remember just how much we need a Savior and that He paid
the price of all of them, both great and small, both of commission
and of omission. The bag of sins is far greater than we can bear but
thankfully, we can say with Paul, “I am crucified with Christ:
nevertheless I life; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God,
who loved me, and gave Himself for me....” Praise God that He paid
it all.
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