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Monday, February 13, 2012

How sympathetic should we be when a star dies by fame and fortune?

It would be easy to say "I told you so" when we see Hollywood celebrities chase fame and fortune and end up suffering the consequences of their choices. We might think we would never use our talents and gifts for anything but God's glory. Of course most of us make such boasts without having been faced with people knocking on our doors urging us toward stardom. Should we take pride in the fact that we have not pursued worldly things/sin until they killed us, as we might judge these celebrities for doing, or should we have a more humble assessment of the difference between "us" and "them"?

Ultimately, two world views and only two exist on earth. The first one seeks life, hope and happiness in the created things and the other seeks the Creator and thankfully accepts what He provides.

Matt. 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (NKJV)

All mankind is born pursuing the created things, in our own way, and it always leads to death -

Prov. 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
(NKJV)

By contrast, through God's grace -

Eph. 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (NKJV)

If we know the truth about the created things and have come to believe it is better to seek the Creator - all glory goes to God, not us! Even though our "way that seemed right" might not have looked like Whitney Houston's or anyone else’s, it was to lead to our death just as certain! Rather than boast that we aren't throwing away our lives like some of those Hollywood folks, we need to humbly acknowledge that it is only God's grace that has spared us and He spared us for a reason - to do the "good works, which God prepared beforehand". We know that these works include going into all the world and being His witnesses, that others pursuing life, hope and happiness in the created things, as we once were, can hear about the one who died to deliver us from such a death!

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."  

1 comment:

  1. wonderfully stated ! Not much i can add to improve on it, so let me just add an AMEN! tj

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