April 1, 2014

Although I heard the saying on a popular television sitcom a few years ago, the quote is credited to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: “Growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a crime you haven’t committed”. The older I get, the more this saying makes sense.

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4.16-18)

It is a fact: we will all eventually wear out and die. Medical science may help us prolong our years, but it cannot halt the degenerative course we all are on, which ultimately leads to death. Depressing facts, aren’t they? But, there is a more important reality for the born again child of God: “our inner man is being renewed day by day”. The internal Spirit of God, coupled with the difficulties of daily living, are molding and shaping us to prepare us for the coming kingdom of God.

The apostle Paul’s perspective was not based on that which was visible, but rather the invisible. His was truly a faith perspective: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11.1) Not distracted by the visible and temporal, Paul saw - with eyes of faith - the invisible realm that is eternal.

It is a recipe for cynicism to merely look at the visible and temporal. The world is not becoming a better place. Only recently, deeply disturbing news about looking environmental catastrophe made headlines. World peace and harmony eludes us as aggressive dictators and nations prey upon weaker nations and peoples. Morality spirals downward, not upward. But, the true reality is beyond human sight. Behind the world’s stage is the developing reality of the coming kingdom of God age. The mustard seed has taken root, and is flourishing. The yeast is permeating the dough. The seed - the word of the kingdom - has found fertile soil in the lives of the children of God. The birth pangs of the kingdom are increasing in frequency and intensity.

As those who are made from the elements of the earth, our outer body is wasting away. But, as those within whom resides the Spirit of God, our real being is being renewed and prepared for the day of our ultimate change at the return of Christ. May we be encouraged by the true reality that cannot be seen this side of the kingdom.

Steve

©Steve Taylor, 2014
Be sure to also visit http://thetruthrevolution.wordpress.com/ 

Amazon ebook & print devotional -http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FQ1Q9GW
paperback print copy of book — https://www.createspace.com/4500045