Today's culture is meant to seduce people. Marketers try to seduce you into buying their product by playing flashy commercials on tv and conjuring up hype about their products. I admit that I am, sometimes very willingly, seduced into purchasing things that I don't really need. This seduction travels beyond products, though, into lifestyles as well. It is quite easy to be seduced into a lifestyle of pursuing pleasure and wealth. Lifestyles that promote the self instead of the other. Like a wildfire consuming all that is truly good and satisfying in life.
I believe that we can have hope in America, though. In fact, there is a Juniper tree (Juniperus chinensis) in Arizona that gives me hope. Yes, I know it sounds strange, but before you just write me off, hear me out. This tree is quite unique and I'm sure would have a fantastic story to tell if it could talk in more than swishing leaves and creaking branches. Upon first glance through the charred hole in the middle of its trunk, you would swear that the tree had photosynthesized its last light particle. I mean, the hole is so big I could walk through it! On second consideration of this conifer, however, you would hopefully see the bright green growth sprouting from its top boughs! The tree is very much alive despite having been ravaged by some long-ago fire, carrying with it the scars of its trial.
If you are like me, you find yourself in a proverbial fire-fight right now. A worldly wildfire has been ravaging my life, trying to burn away all traces of my faith. I have been seeking after worldly things for the past year, seeking out my own pleasure and wealth instead of serving others and promoting their well-being. Through this selfishness I ended up almost losing a good friend because I was too prideful to seek reconciliation with him.
Have hope, friends. All of the trials, the fires, the years of growth, the joy, pain, sorrow, love, hate, truth, and lies that we experience in life make us who we are. They can bring us into a deeper, more mature relationship with Jesus, or they can cause us to fall away from faith. Take courage from the prophet Jeremiah:
"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."
-Jeremiah 29:13-14
Lord, revive and renew us. Show us your grace and love once more. May they be beacons of light for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment