Kehinde A. Bolutife
Life is a priceless, precious gift that is worth celebrating! Why? Only the living has hope in life! Only the living has the hope and aspirations to become someone great in life. It is indeed a privilege to be born! If you were not born, you will have no platform whatsoever among men to become somebody in life. For these reasons, every Birth-remembrance Day among many other things should evoke an attitude of heartfelt praises and sincere appreciation to God for the gracious gift of life that comes by birth! The holy Writ says, “A living dog is better than a dead lion.” As long as you are alive today, no matter your situation, you are better in some ways than great men who have died! This for two main reasons: The dead have no more hope whatsoever among the living. Two, the dead have no more power to make choice or choices that can affect their eternal state!
However, while we need to thank God for the precious gift of life, not every life is worth- celebrating. There is a life that is not worth-celebrating. By its definition it is natural. By its composition it is earthly. By its manifestation it is carnal; by its dedication it is self-centered. It is a life that can never please God because it cannot submit to the law of God. The fruits of such a life are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissension, faction and envy, drunkenness, orgies and such like…. such life is a life that has no other hope than death. It might succeed in gaining the whole world but its end is still miserable. This is the life of all men at birth…
But there is another life that is worth-celebrating. It is new by definition, divine in composition, spiritual in manifestation, God-centered in dedication. It is crucified to the world and the world also is crucified to it. It is a life that has hope because of the indwelling Christ. For Christ only is the hope of glory. The world might withhold from it its silver and gold, yet, it has God as its shield and exceeding great reward. The fruit of this new life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Its end is life eternal!
Such life is not attained by natural birth for he that is born of the earth is earthly. Neither is it attained by religious effort for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And all our righteousness is as filthy rags. This new life is only attained by grace through faith in the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. You can never find meaning to life until you discover this new life. It is an exchange of the natural life with the divine life of Christ Himself.
What advantage then has this natural life you may ask? The answer is the great advantage of CHOICE! Everyman is given a chance to live in this world where change can occur so that he can by himself make a choice of his placement in eternity where there will be no change! 50, 60, or 70 years of existence in this world are but a preparation to enter eternity, where time and years do not matter. The choice of eternal life can only be made only in this life and not hereafter! And that eternal life is found only in Christ Jesus! The wages of sin is eternal death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. If your life is not yet right with God, you must pause here for a very sober reflection. For there is nothing worth celebrating about it. Christ stands at the door of your heart this day, knocking. Do not delay in rising to open for Him to come in and by His Blood blot out all the records of sins that the devil is compiling against you to pull you into eternal perdition. There is forgiveness now; there will be none in eternity. There is repentance now in time, but there is nothing like that in eternity. There is cleansing in the Blood today, but there in eternity, all stains are permanent. Take the advantage of life today and never bank on a “tomorrow” that may never be yours. The implication of this is that YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN!!! Are you born again? Today is the accepted time, today is the day of salvation. Your decision today may place you eternally in a wrong place. Bow your heart now in prayer and ask Him Who is willing to forgive you and give you eternal life to come into your life. Waiting too long to repent, you might not repent too soon. And you don’t know when it will be too late for you to repent because you don’t know how long this life can last!
Accept Christ into your life today and life really is just beginning!!!
Accept Christ into your life today and life really is just beginning!!!