Chasing After Wind

James 4:14 Whereas you don`t know what your

life will be like tomorrow. For what is

your life? For you are a vapor, that

appears for a little time, and then

vanishes away.


Today is another day of packing and moving.
Mostly, for now, things are going into
storage. As I am wrapping breakables from
a stack of old newspaper, I see a picture
of Saddam Hussein in a noose. The date is
12-31-06. It's only been about a year
since then, and one of the most talked
about personalities of 2006 is barely given
a mention anymore.


For the most part, I never paid much
attention to Iraq. I've worked with people
in the past, who were from various Middle
East countries. I can't remember anyone
who had anything cheerful to say about S.H.
but I may have forgotten something. There
is an illustration to be made from his time
as dictator, in the way that he excercised
power. Other than himself and cronies, it
seems that he was generally feared and
despised. He left the sort of memory that
people just want to let pass as quickly as
possible. I would suggest that besides the
obvious reason, that people don't enjoy
living in terror for their lives, the
misery of his memory, like the memory of
all other despots, has to do with the fact
that he did very little for the benefit of
others. With all the power that he had
during his life, it seems that what he was
able to accomplish is like the vapor that
vanishes away quickly. People want to
forget about him.


John 12:25 He who loves his life will lose

it. He who hates his life in this world

will keep it to eternal life.


Here in the book of John, we are given a
contrast between the powerful and the
truely great. One loves themself, the
other not so much. It's another of the
binary choice catagories that life puts in
your face. It's one or the other, not
both. What we don't find here is the idea
of self-esteem. In fact, it seems that the
idea of an exagerated sense of self is what
scripture tells us to avoid. This passage
is very clear cut in context. Jesus is
telling his disciples that to serve him
requires the surrender of self-interest.


But you have to notice that there are also
two possible outcomes. We have the modern
suggestion that self-esteem will lead to
some benefit. Then, there is the
scriptural teaching that surrender of self-
will takes us down the path of greater
reward.


You know one of the big problems with life?
You only get one shot at it. I mean, how
many times have you done something and then
only moments later thought to yourself that
you wanted to do it a little differently?
Or sometimes we say, If I knew then, what I
know now... And that's where faith has to
be applied, because we can't possibly know
by experience where a choice will lead to
if we've never been there. It's not just
to be able to recognize that there is an
either/or choice to make, but it's often
trying to figure out which is which. I
mean, the world says one thing, which often
turns out to be a smokescreen for another
thing altogether, and you are there just
trying to figure out is this choice A or is
this choice !A, because you've been around
long enough to know that things are seldom
as they appear to be, and nobody ever says
what they really mean.


Even though you recognize the truth, the
decisions seem to never get easier. In
fact, as you get older, the decisions seem
to get more unpleasant all along.


Ecc 2:17 So I hated life, because the work

that is worked under the sun was grievous

to me; for all is vanity and a chasing

after wind.


Well, at least I'm not the only one. When
all is vanity and a chasing after wind,
what are you supposed to do once you get
tired of running like a hamster in a wheel?
That's when the words of Jesus begin to
make the most sense. Get on the bus.