Dr. Jim Wilkins
In a couple of weeks we’ll set our clocks back again in conjunction with Daylight Savings Time. It’s never really bothered me that much because change in general doesn’t scare me or concern me. Things change. We see it all around us. All of nature is governed by seasons: winter, spring, summer, fall. All of nature is impacted by the winds, which no one can see but all of nature knows its presence and feels its effects. Even human existence by definition is filled with constant change. We are not now still infants, needing our mothers, depending on our fathers for every single thing in life. We matured, changed into adults capable of fending for ourselves. Seasons of life in the human experience are sometimes difficult to embrace simply because some people refuse to accept the concept of change.
I suggest to you that the Designer, Creator of all of nature and the human species, wired into each person the ability to know, recognize, embrace and deal with the changes which will over time occur in every human’s life. The ability to do these things (know, embrace and deal) is directly proportional to the extent with which that person interacts with the Creator Himself.
If a person knows they are created, this ultimately means the Creator had a purpose in creating you. If in recognizing you have a purpose, you must now become engaged in discovering and enacting that very purpose. Part of this discovery of purpose process will lead directly to a choice. A person will either embrace the Creator as the life-giving source of all things physical and spiritual, trusting Him completely for all you need to endure this human existence…or deny these truths, become self-sufficient and deal within your own resources for what this life will inevitably bring. Change.
Spring leads to summer. Summer leads to fall. Fall leads to winter. Winter brings death. In this exact same way each person faces a birth, a life maturing process going from adolescence to adulthood and changing bodies, which deteriorate a little more with every season of life. Coming fully to the close of winter, our physical bodies will someday cease to function. In this winter of change, life itself can be fully realized, if a person has known, embraced and dealt with this change through a relationship with their Creator.
Is there life at the end of winter? The lilies say “yes” as they break through the solid earth below bursting forth as they reach for the sun. There is a day coming when our physical winter here will end. When this occurs, when each person meets their Creator face to face, He will ask what we have done with this gift of life we have on earth. He will say, “I made Myself known to you through my Son, Jesus. He taught you how to receive life eternal when your physical winter was through.” The question will be, “With my Son, Jesus…what did you do?”
Dr. Jim Wilkins is the Pastor of Fellowship at the Ranch. We meet each Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. in the clubhouse.