THE FUTURE WE HAVE

People today spend much time planning their future, trying to make it secure. Investment ads and "how-to-retire well" stories are so numerous a first-time visitor here might think that's the whole point to life in America - to retire wealthy. Is your 401k doing well? Good for you! If not, your future is in jeopardy.

Far better that our future is secure because of our faith in Christ. In Philippians 3:7-9, St. Paul said, "Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him."

A Stock Market gain gives us hope; a loss makes us tense. But the materials things we gather for ourselves in life can be lost in a heartbeat. Knowing and trusting Christ brings a security that loss cannot take away. Faith in Jesus gives a life that goes past all phases of this one and brings us into the eternal presence of God.

I recently watched an interesting program called, "The History of the World in Two Hours" which, of course, started with a "big bang thirteen billion years ago." Oddly, in the program a secular scientist used the phrases, "Let there be light" and "creation of energy," freely borrowing Christian phrases to make his point about the beginning of things. He attempted to show how the earth, that third planet from the sun, Carl Sagan's "insignificant pale blue dot," could accidentally come to support life. As he did, he used biblical phrases without realizing it.

I marvel at how we humans can see everything but the obvious. The more we learn about the intricacies of complex life, the more it should drive us to seek Someone behind it all. But our sinful nature blinds us to God, or even to consider His possibility. We're content to ignore the facts, refuse the obvious, and be damned rather than admitting there is a God behind this marvelous thing called life. To the secularist, the future means knowledge and answers to more problems. Thus, a "secure" retirement becomes of paramount importance.

St. Paul had a good life before he came to know Christ, but lost it all the minute he professed Jesus. No Temple Pension, no Eternal IRA for him. He suffered the loss of all things material so that he could be spiritually ready to meet his Lord. He counted all that stuff as rubbish compared to knowing Jesus Christ.

Christ is the only secure future we can hope for. A financially secure old age is helpful, but it doesn't last long. And if we spend most of our lives amassing funds for the last decade or two, we may miss out on the real fortunes of heaven.

Faith in Christ makes our future truly secure.