A Successful Life
1 Chronicles 12:32 “They were men who understood their times.” This is in reference to the sons of Issachar. They had wisdom in the way they dealt with the culture around them .
To have a successful life , we too, must understand our times. I think understadning our times falls into the three main categories of understadning . Our time, our place, and our limits.
Time. We begin with time. We must know about human history, the culture we live in, and our personal time.
Human history : Oliver Burkman in-his book “Four Thousand Weeks” tells us that the average human life span is just that, four thousand weeks. He also helps us put this in perspective by reminding us that human civilization is only about six thousand years old. At all times, in each Age, there were a handful of people who lived to be 100.
If we could trace this back we would see clearly that all of human civilization is only 60 lifetimes. Maybe ancient civilization isn’t quite as ancient as we thought.
We do well to understand the unfolding of history, and God’s Providential hand in it. This is turn helps us to correctly interpret our own times, as we mentioned earlier.
But what about our personal time? What about our lives?\
Psalm 31 :14 “But I trust in you, LORD, I say , You are my God. My times are in your hands.”
Psalm 37:18 “The blameless spend their days under the LORD’S care, and their inheritance will endure forever.
And , of course, Psalm 39:4-5 “Show me, LORD< my life’s end, and the number of my days, Let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days as a mere handbreadth, the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.
God, in His Glory, operates outside of time and space. He exists outside of these limits as well. He works with in them in order to have relationship with us.
We are not machines. We are embodied souls. Thus we cannot pursue productivity at all cost- we cannot treat ourselves like machines. To be human is to exist with constraints, to exist in a state of a series of limitations. We read Time Management books, and chase productivity hacks,. but the truth is our time will always feel a bit unmanageable, like control is not in our grasp. Our time feels out of control because it is. We were never meant to control time, Exist in time, yes.
When Adam walked with God in the Garden , in the cool of that day, he was using his time wot the Best and Highest end. It was what he was made for, face to face communion with his creator. That, That is time well spent.
We have a creator who longs to spend time with us , If we aren’t using our time in community with Him, then we are wasting it.
Consider it now, the Creator of the Universe stepped out of eternity and into time, for you. Two thousand years ago Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life, one that we are not able to live. He died a horrific, painful, public and humiliating death. One that He certainly didn’t deserve, but that we did. He limited Himself to rescue you. Which is, of course, why we call it the Good News.
I mentioned that we also need to know our place. Well, the observable universe spans 93 Billion light years , and contains an estimated 2 trillion galaxies. Our home galaxy , the milky way is 10 thousand light years across. For perspective the Voyager, which is the fastest space craft that humans have made thus far, has been traveling in outer space since 1977, and has only made it 0.002 light years away. The Universe is vast, and that is also a gross understatement.
Psalm 8:3-4 “When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set into place, what is man that you are mindful of him? Human beings that you care for them?”
David contrasts the immensity of the heavens , created by God, with humanities limitations. Why do we need to know this? Why does it matter? Because a proper view of God leads us to worship Him correctly. We do well to consider the scope, variety, and intricacy of creation, and let that lead us to humility before Him, and to awe in our worship of Him.
Our Limitations.
Our most obvious limitation is our own mortality . Memento Mori, once so popular to saints that have gone before, is largely ignored by modern Christians. It isn’t en vogue anymore, partly for the reason that we moderns are obsessed with tryin to live longer. We ignore death as much as possible.
Deep down, we know that our limits stretch beyond this. Our bodies limit us, whether the temporary inconvenience and discomfort of an illness, or we are dealing with chronic conditions. Time, Space, Gravity, and other physical realities limit us. Being human limits us.
Our modern (read: internet) culture is built around trying it make us convinced in our own immortality . TO tru to convince us that e are demigods. DO you think I’m exaggerating? Consider with me. If we need to know something, we google it. Not sure where your child or spouse is? Location service. Want to stay abreast of the latest abysmal news out of Washington? Our 24 hour news cycles are more than happy to oblige. Curious about whatever happened to the football star from your hometown? Social Media.
While screens in general and phones in particular receives most of the criticism in this area, the problem isn’t technology. The problem is what it’s always been. Sinful. human hearts. Misplaced desires. Wanting what we cannot have. Until we bring this area under the Lordship of Christ , desiring Him above all else, then we will continue to struggle in this area. Our devices are quite similar to Eve’s forbidden fruit. We think they will make us wise, we see that they are desirable, and that they will make us like God. ( Now that I think of it, it’s strange that there is an apple with a bite out of it on my laptop, my phone…)
In light of humanities limitations , we are faced with a choice. We can chose the world’s definition of success, or we can yield ourselves to GOd. We can embrace smallness. We can accept that our lives likely wont be a defining point in human history. And we can be happy in that because God didn’t call us to live an important life. He asks us to live a life surrendered to Him. A life worthy of the calling that we have received.
If you remember nothing else that I have said, please remember this. God never called you to greatness, because He already is.
Psalm 27:4 “One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek, that I may dwell in the hosue of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the Beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple.”
That is a successful life. And it’s also eternal life. Salvation isn’t just goin to heaven, and not going to hell when you die. Salvation is dwelling in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives, gazing on His Beauty, and seeking Him in His temple.
