As of
this past Tuesday it has been six years since
our country was attacked by terrorists in New
York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania. I
recall that while watching and listening to the
news coverage and interviews one word kept
coming up over and over again—perspective. Many
of us watched live as people in the World Trade
Center chose to leap to certain death rather
than be consumed by the inferno. Not long after
we watched as the Twin Towers crumbled to the
ground as people fled in the streets from the
broiling debris. The scenes seemed like those
from a movie. But we knew they were all too
real. Talking heads who normally spend their
time debating social security and the flaws of
the opposing political party acknowledged that,
at least for the time being, these issues and
others like them must wait for another day.
Survivors who were worried about any number of
things moments before the attack were simply
grateful to be alive and grieving for those who
were not. Baseball games and other objects of
entertainment were canceled or suspended. Such
things for many folks just didn’t seem right,
right now.
When
something like this happens we are inevitably
encouraged by stories of the good and heroic
emerging from the horror. By the mercies of God
men and women overcame incredible odds to
survive and rescue others. But we all know that
we would take dealing with the trivial and
mundane things of life any day over the carnage
so many were then faced with. When such horrors
do occur in life we are forced to come face to
face with the few things that matter most. We
are forced to adjust our perspective.
On
Tuesday, September 11, 2001, 19 murderous
terrorists and 2966 victims were bolted into
eternity, many unprepared to meet God. But while
this event grabbed the attention of the world,
and rightly so, people die every day who are not
ready. In this life there will always be bills
to be paid, appointments to be kept, and jobs to
be worked. These things matter, to be sure. But
they are not what matters most. What matters
most is getting right and staying right with
God. The Bible tells us how to do that. The
church will help you do that. Right after 9/11
church attendance spiked in this country, but it
didn’t last long. As soon as people started
feeling comfortable again and thinking that
terrible things happen to other people they put
God back where they had him before—out of sight
and out of mind.
In
Luke 12:16-21 Jesus told this story, “The
land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he
thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have
nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will
do this: I will tear down my barns and build
larger ones, and there I will store all my grain
and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul,
you have ample goods laid up for many years;
relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to
him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of
you, and the things you have prepared, whose
will they be?’ So is the one who lays up
treasure for himself and is not rich toward
God.” We can become so comfortable and
consumed by stuff, business and busyness that we
put on the back burner or completely take off
the stove the things that matter most. In
Matthew 16:26 Jesus posed these haunting
questions, “What will a man be profited, if
he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul?
Or what will a man give in exchange for his
soul?” What’s the answer for you? While you
attend to the things of this life, please don’t
neglect the things of the next.
God bless you,
Brad Fry
