Tips for Life
by Alan Bailey
You can see a great deal from a window. At times, things you are not meant to see. It is a means of spying on others. But then, a better use of a window is to look at the natural world around you and appreciate it. A pleasant view is worth a lot.
From where I sit the view is pleasant indeed with brilliant flowers grow profusely. Wide variety and rich colour are on every hand. Masses of red Bougainvillea seem to set the place alight. Then swathes of green reach to folded hills that lead up to towering blue mountains. Above the mountains huge plumes of shining white cloud sit, reaching way up to the heavens. Yes, a very pleasant view.
A view of life itself
Our view of the world around us is like our view of life itself. Sometimes it looks good. Other times we don’t like what we see.
Life is a mixture of the wanted and the unwanted. Joys and pleasures can be wonderful, but pains and problems can so tear away our joy that we wonder if it will ever come back.
Have you ever wondered why a lovely scene can be interrupted by the pathetic cry of a child in pain? Or the announcement of some distinctly bad news spoils the party? Or why people can be so kind and good and on the other hand why they can be so foul?
In the lifetime of so many of us we have seen wars where ordinary people who once lived as good citizens and had friendly relations with their neighbours became cruel killers. Today, Christians in many countries are subjected to horrible torture when they have done no wrong. Some of the worst dictators in the world had a university education but became guilty of genocide. No, we are not talking about backwardness and savagery; we are talking about civilised, cultured people capable of art, literature and fine music. Remember World War II.
Why?
Something basic is out of order. No natural explanation can ever satisfy. The fall of man is the reason. Our first parents had a pleasant view but they didn’t keep it through outright disobedience. How large was the fall! Not only were they affected but all following generations were in the same mould. While we were made in the image of God, that image has been marred. So we see two sides to human nature. We are a good thing spoiled. And creation itself, the Bible says, is ‘groaning and labouring in pain’ to this day. The natural world is not what God made it to be.
Something to be glad about
The Good News we want to share is that the fall of man brought about the coming of Jesus Christ into the world. Clearly, we need a Saviour and another fallen person won’t do. Only the unique Son of God could ever buy back a fallen creation by the shedding of His blood. When we come to know Him personally, we have a new nature which can overcome our failures. We still have old ways with us but they too, one day will be forever gone.