On most weekends my wife and I take a drive to visit one of the many neighboring quaint New England towns. We enjoy browsing the various eclectic and antique shops.
While she browses through the dusty and crowded aisles looking at dishes or various knickknacks my attention is directed toward the shelves sagging from the weight of old books, outdated magazines and vinyl records. I'm not at a collector and I'm not interested in purchasing any of it. What draws my attention is how old the stuff is and why at one time it was the "it" thing to listen or read.
Today I picked up a book and studied the cover for several long minutes before turning the pages to see it was published in 1963. Five years before I was born.
How much has changed from when the author first wrote that book to this day some 50 years later!
On the drive home I remarked to my wife that if Christ should tarry some 50 or 100 years from now the stuff that we wore or used for daily activities may be found in a similar store. Imagine someone buying my cereal bowl!
In so many words she recalled that even in our lifetimes such things like the VCR is nearly extinct when you can go online to watch or download a movie. I agreed. Long gone are the days of vinyl records and even the CD player is replaced for digital downloads. Sure some of this stuff will remain in use but with the most current and trendy devices some of the old devices don't make it practical - like the 8 track tape!
Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, "History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new." (NLT). A second look at all those books, magazines and records showed history does repeat itself - nothing of what was written or sung was any different from the past or even the present. Except that life is in constant motion. Change from generation to generation made recycling the past as if to see it in a different light does little to make the present appear new or different. In other words, the days gone by were not necessary always the good old days.
But God who is faithful remains the same from age to age and from generation to generation.
One of His names is the Ancient One of Days (Daniel 7:9). He remains outside of time and space. Unlike our lives that are constricted or shaped by the fickle trends of our time. But consider 2 Corinthians 4:16 which puts everything in right perspective. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. (NIV).
Beloved, true freedom is viewing the stuff that fills our homes and clutter our lives as nothing short of rot - Paul uses a much stronger word in Philippines 3:8 - oh, that we would possess and be possessed by Christ!
In the end what matters is the lives we touched for Christ that will outlast all these passing earthly goods and pleasures. Such will be the only possession we will take with us when we leave this earth - people who saw clearly Christ in our lives not the latest high speed internet gadget or some book or movie we talked about as being moving and entertaining.
Remember the young rich ruler and the words Jesus said to him. Sell all and come follow me! If he did there will be one less antique store selling his goods and so should our lives be - filled and emptied out only to be filled again for His purposes - nothing more and nothing less.
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