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Scripture for the day: John 15:1-4 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”
Thought for the day: We’re all looking for meaning in the midst of our meaningless lives, aren’t we? Solomon said, in his treatise on life said that everything was “meaningless; a chasing after the wind.” I sometimes fear he may have been right.
The real struggle comes when we look at our lives and wonder if our existence up to this point had made any real difference at all. After all, each of us wants to believe our lives have meaning, don’t we? Of course we do. the real trouble comes when we allow ourselves to become so focused on meaning that we aren’t really living. Let me give you a couple of examples.
Some wise person once described life as follows: Birth – in between stuff – death. That’s pretty succinct, but I’m afraid it’s a bit simplistic. Douglas Addams, in his epic novel, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, came to the conclusion that the answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything, is 42. What if the Hokey Pokey is what it’s all about? An old Jewish proverb says, “If you wait until you find the meaning of life, you may not have enough time left to live it meaningfully.” We laugh at these bits of errant (or possibly meaningless?) philosophy, but they tend to point to our frustration with finding the real meaning behind our existence.
Pablo Picasso said, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” And Solomon, once more, concluded that there is nothing more meaningful than to love God and enjoy him all your days. The problem is, we’re conditioned to search for something higher, more news-worthy, or flashy. 98% of all advertisements are designed to remind us of what we’re missing and what we need to do or to buy to make up for that lack. Let’s be honest, we tend to become consumed by the “oughts.” We ought to do more, give more, serve more, or be more effective. The problem is, there isn’t enough how-to to go with the ought to.
I think we would do well to remember that flashy and famous are very often not tied to meaningful. Isaiah was so excited at the opportunity to go and preach the gospel that he didn’t even think to ask the details of his commission. Only after the Lord God had given him the call did he ask where he was to go. The answer: “You’re going to preach to a bunch of people who won’t listen to you.” “How long, O Lord?” “For the rest of your life.” You can correct me if I’m wrong but that seems pretty meaningless from any perspective other than that of the Lord.
After Jesus healed a demoniac in the land of the Gadarenes, rather than bring him into the fold of those traveling to spread the Good News, doing miracles and healing others, He sent him home to live out the rest of his life in obscurity, sharing his story with those in his own home town.
After Philip led the Ethiopian to the Lord and baptized him, that man, whose name is lost to history, went back to his government job and, as far as we know, lived the rest of his life laboring at his post with no special attention. His name isn’t in the Who’s Who of Biblical History. Nevertheless, there was meaning to his life because of his association with the Savior.
The same is true of you and me. If no one other than a few in our families or among our friends recognizes the contributions we have made, there is still meaning, eternal meaning. Thank the Lord. We’ll talk more about this over the next few days.
Now go take on your world. – Bill