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Today’s Bible Verse 19.03.2024
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. — Hebrews 13:5-6 (KJV)

Archive for 24 March 2012

The Futility of Self

The commonality of existence was the basis of creation. The intention of God the forerunner of life is that all his creation

lives off one another. Nothing was made to subsist in seclusion. The seven days of creation reflect the endless mind of God.

The book of Genesis 1:1-28 presents the naked evidence of His plan. A timeless mind that lay bare in scriptures.

 

His concepts were paired and man was granted the heavenly grace to multiply. The creation of heaven and earth, day and

night, dry land and seas, man and woman…. “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created he him;

male and female created he them…And God blessed them, and God said unto them be fruitful and multiply and replenish

the earth…”

 

If the heart of his maker is unlocked why then does man glory in self living within his own borders? Caged in the prison of

his mind he promotes selfishness as though his life depends on it. Withdrawn into a broken shell man trudges along

oblivious of how vulnerable he is without God’s wrap.

 

The needs of man are insatiable yet he strives with self and the world desperate to meet his vain desires. Miserable on

every side and mounting blocks of forlorn hope he waits endlessly for that day when his appetite will overflow

with satisfaction.

 

Squeezing water from stone man grapples with the effort to sojourn through life standing only on the land he owns. The

world to him is an island that should be traversed in isolation. He abhors walking the walk holding hands with others

intent on savouring the glory all by himself. Against the flow of our penny-pinching thoughts all lands are linked and

those possessed by others begin where our own ends. In life’s journey we unavoidably need ourselves; although

within lawful and moral limits.

 

God advances the spirit of coexistence and good neighbourliness. The Word of God in Mark 12:31 admonish us to love our

neighbour as ourselves. The concept of fairness and reciprocity as a principle of human cohesion is emphasised by Jesus

Christ in Luke 6:31 saying: “Do to others as you would have them do to you”. In Galatians 6:10 Apostle Paul wrote: “As

you therefore have opportunity let us do good to all men especially unto them who are of the household of faith”.

 

The all-knowing father and author of heaven and earth acknowledges our frailties and limitations as mortal beings.

It isn’t His intention that man should go the full hug alone. We weren’t created to do so and it is simply fruitless

and miserable trying to thread that path.

 

If self-sufficiency is measured by our earthly possession then King Solomon should have had nothing to do with his

unhappy ending. He kept a large retinue of servants – 1 Kings 11:13 also accounts that he had seven hundred wives and

three hundred concubines. Clearly he had so much going for him to last several lifetimes.

“And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen… And Solomon

reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt. ” I Kings 4:26 & 21

 

It is instructive that King Solomon in all his opulence and clout relied on servants to get by each day. Why would such a

high net-worth King need such “lowly” people? In Ecclesiastes 2:7-8 the king wrote: “I acquired male and female

servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in

Jerusalem before me.”

 

The Bible accounts in Mark 12:41-44 of the widow who gave so little and yet gave her all. It is pertinent to reflect and

draw a lesson from this.  What is the value of the widow’s mite compared to the usually celebrated display of the high

and wealthy? The Lord has taught us among other lessons that we all count in the sequence of life. Pointedly, ninety-nine

pence isn’t one pound until one penny is added.

 

Self is personal and pay allegiance to its own narrow ends; greedy and lonely it is a catalyst for misery. Ready to receive

yet afraid to share with others the self-seeking lives in perpetual thirst worrying that the Atlantic Ocean will run dry.

Amidst the ceaseless flow of the river, water is despised for spittle.

 

In the order of Cain the selfish is canal and covetous. Deceptive, misguided and deluded he pretends to be clothed yet

naked under the glare of daylight. Foolhardiness robust and flaunted the vision of self is stunted and does not transcend

the nostrils. The length of its time is dwarfed by time itself.

 

The urge to satisfy a need at the expense of anything is as lethal as wickedness driven by self and greed. Ultimately

weighed down by the cry of Abel (Genesis 4:10) self is ingloriously consigned to the bottom of the Esau ladder

(Genesis 25:29-34).

 

Get over and live beyond yourself. To go the distance assuredly you need those who look up to you as much as those you

look up to. Man was not made for himself but that through him others will find a reason to cling on. This is the

opportunity, now is the moment; at the cessation of breath both chance and time are lost forever.

                                                                     In His grip,                        

                                                                     Victor & Jolomi Awani (22-03-2012)

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