Sunday, July 27, 2003
Dear family:
Today as I looked at 2Peter 1, I was completely over whelmed with all that is packed into these verses. In today's busy world, where we have the internet to get immediate access to just about anything, we have become the generation of the milli-second. And that is about all the time we have for the really important things in life, just a milli-second. We tend not to take time to smell the roses. Time Warner advertises putting the TV on pause while the viewer smells the roses.
Put life on pause, take just a milli-second and meditate on these verses:
2 Pet 1:1-21
1) Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
2) Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3) According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
Now I want you to pause in your reading of these verses and see just a couple of things. Peter uses some very significant words here. First he refers to himself as "a servant and apostle" of Jesus Christ, then he uses "obtained like precious faith", "grace and peace be multiplied," and last but certainly not least, "all things that pertain unto life and godliness".
Many of us search our entire life for a life with substance and meaning only to have it elude us. Yet, here Peter says we have been given all things that pertain to life. Think about it! Here is the secret to life and all that you can imagine as being what is really important and it is free. "According as his divine power hath given unto us", it is ours freely given to us by His divine power.
We tend to believe it is up to us to accomplish life, no, no, no! It is up to us to live it. Listen to me! It is up to you to live life. Every time you get stressed out you are not living it, you are trying to create and control it.
Last week as I went through a barrage of tests, the most dreaded was the stress test. When I arrived at the testing center, a nurse was assigned to me to stay with me and tell me everything that was going to take place and monitor me. She so put me at ease that I had difficulty staying awake. As I stepped on the treadmill my heart rate was only 59. They told me it would take about 7 minutes to get it up to 135 where they wanted it. But, I had to stay on well past the 7 minutes. My rate wouldn't go above 126. I was so relaxed and determined to stay that way that those administering the test thought the equipment was malfunctioning. Only when I began to fear that my legs were going to give out on me did my count go to 135. Only through fear was I able to reach the level of stress they wanted to achieve. My goal was misdirected. I relaxed and took long strides to make sure I could last for 7 minutes. But the real purpose was to get my heart rate to 135 not to stay on the test for 7 minutes. I could have taken short steps or ran and I would have been on that thing for only 7 minutes but I simply wanted to be in control. It was only when I feared I would lose control that my body entered the test level.
Hear me now, It is not for you to control life, it is for you to live it and to live it to the fullest.
Love Ya
Dad
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