Yes, I did have a birthday. It was on October the 23rd. I am now 23 years old. Many of you just rolled your eyes and muttered to yourself something about twenty-three not being old. I suppose you'd be right. I just feel like I'm still supposed to be sword fighting with a hockey stick in the backyard with my little brother.
I wrote once before about time being like a vapor. (The link is here) That is certainly beginning to feel true for me. It seems like yesterday, I was playing high school soccer, and today I'm 23, working a full-time job, and married! What on earth happened?
I'm not going to act like I'm distraught over it because I'm not. I love the fact that today is a new day filled with new experiences. Yesterday is the past, and I cannot change it nor would I. That brings me to my topic.
The past and the future. According to an article published in October 2010, people are more likely to react with more intensity when presented with situations effecting the future rather than the past - link. What exactly does that mean? Let me illustrate. Let's say that you were talking to someone and they told you that a friend of yours was cheated on by her husband last week, but you are in a foreign country and are unable to speak with her to let her know how sorry you are. You tried to call her but you got no answer. You would probably hurt for her for a few hours to a day and then forget about it until you got home.
Now let's take the same scenario and reverse it. Let's say that you somehow know that in one week your friend's husband is going to cheat on her, but you are in a foreign country. You tried to call her but you got no answer. I'd be willing to bet you'd do everything in your power to get a message to her. You might even pay a little extra and have your return flight tickets bumped forward a few days since you couldn't reach her by phone. It wouldn't be something that could wait. Why?
I'm not necessarily talking about adultery and its effect on people. I'm talking about the measures you would take to ensure you got a message to her. Cheating is cheating. So why in one instance do you wait till you get home, yet in the other, you do everything you can to get home? Because the past is over and you can't change it, but the future is uncertain and you feel like you can make a difference in it.
What's the point? Why do we as Christians gawk in awe at men and women of the past who made a difference, but hold no hope for the future? People spend their lives studying famous and infamous men and women of the past. That's not wrong, but we cannot effect the past personally. You can however effect the future. People are dying and going to Hell. Some people died and went to Hell yesterday. That's a terrible thing, but if we asked them I guarantee they would rather we tried to witness to others rather than live in pity for those who are already gone. (Luke 16:19-31)
Is someone's eternal future important enough for us to be a little inconvenienced? Just a thought.
Keep thinking friends,
Simeon Brazzell - I Tim. 1:12
