Who Do You Do Life With?

Did you ever think a germ could change your life the way COVID did? It changed the way we handled the obligations of life, obviously: social distancing, working from home, live-streaming events. But it changed life in a more substantial sort of way. We gave a little more consideration to the way we choose to live, what constituted living, and who we wanted in our lives. As life became uncertain and was altered in a way we had never experienced before, it took on greater value. We thought a little more deeply about protecting our health and the health of those dear to us. We considered what might happen to others if we didn't care for ourselves. There were so many sides to the issue: people who chose to live; people who chose to think of others first; people who expressed concern for citizens' rights; people who "followed the science." And yet, in many ways, those "sides" were different expressions of the same fears and desires. If we tallied the moments we spent thinking and talking about a virus we knew nothing of just a year prior, we might all have different numbers, but it would be substantial, I'm sure.

James 4:13-16 talks about the value we place on life and the ways we choose to live it. "What is life?" James asks, He answers his own question: "It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." Think about how long the earth has been in existence. Maybe you've inhabited it for thirty years or eighty years; but how long is that in comparison to all of life? Think about the existence of God and our existence with Him --eternal. We can't begin to wrap our heads around that, but it is a lot longer than thirty or eighty years. Even Methuselah --he lived to 969!-- his life on earth was but a vapor compared to all of eternity. Imagine planning your whole life around a thirty-second commercial. Silly, right? I mean, even the best commercials aren't worth planning your life around. Imagine choosing not to go to college or find a job --you wouldn't want to miss the commercial for something as unimportant as class or work. Imagine choosing not to have children --don't want them making a whole bunch of noise when the commercial comes on. Imagine passing up concert tickets or a dream vacation or your niece's wedding just to be sure you caught this commercial. Foolish! you say, Who would do that? No one plans their entire existence around something as inconsequential and as brief as a commercial!  But God, through James, is telling us we do. 

When we place so much value on our time on earth, we allow the things of this world to govern our lives; we are trading all of His glory for a thirty-second commercial. When we treasure our plans --unimaginative scraps compared to all He can do-- we are forfeiting the supernatural for the fallible, the vulnerable, the temporal. We can't possibly know what is attainable when He ordains it. His imagination is so far beyond ours --He created the poodle moth, after all (look it up!). His power is unrivaled. His plans for His people are good. Besides, thinking we have control over our lives is just arrogant. James admonishes: We should say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." Our minds should always be fixed on God's sovereignty, on His will and His authority over all: our schedules, our goals, our method of living. And it is God Himself we should treasure.

During the pandemic, as we contemplated the brevity of our lives and the value of the ones we do life with, we all sought to preserve both. And that's wonderful --we were created to desire life. But we were created to desire it with the One who holds it in His hands, eternally.