TAKE THE LONG VIEW!
There was a time when one of the first things that an older person would ask a teenager is: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” In that one question, the elder would demonstrate to the younger that there was more to life than ‘texting and gaming’.
In that one question is the wisdom in taking ‘the long view’ of life.
Somehow, many have become ‘time compressed’ to deliberately overlook the social graces of God, Bible and ‘good religion’, as well as just plain old class. A generation USED to be 40 years. Our ‘wizards of smart’ have squeezed Millennials, Gen Z and Gen A into a mere 20-year (or smaller) time frame. Not only this, but it has also become ‘cool’ to disregard the advice of one’s elders—and then whine for help when the tragedy of that neglect comes to pass.
This is NOT enough time to focus on ‘the long view’ of life. The Hanna Montana series had a great line that fits our modern era as the main character whines to her father: “Help me, bail me out; WHY do I always gotta LEARN something?”
If one feeds exclusively on social media and cable news shows, life gets darker, and hope seems to drain away. The mindset of our current age is to ‘deal’ with a perceived injustice immediately without taking the time to think about the longer-term consequences. Emotion rules our day; logic and patience are viewed as a menace to the social structure and political order. Honesty is viewed as a fluke, and upright living are held to be out-of-whack with our current social norms. Yes, it is more than enough of an excuse to just give up and allow evil to use the righteous and upright as a doormat.
Learn this well my friends: Take the long view of life. Where do you want to end up? How do you want to be remembered? Who are you mentoring at present? What good are you leaving behind? One must go through the battles of life with a smile and their head up to understand the beauty of the good that can come from a life well lived. One man can still make a difference, if they have their hand in the hand of Jesus Christ and are fueled by the power of the Holy Spirit. Every good and perfect gift comes from above.
This column was inspired by the prince of preachers, Charles H. Spurgeon. Spurgeon went through a lot of battles in his life. Nevertheless, during the ‘Down Grade’ controversy, he urged his supporters and detractors to take the long view of life. He knew that he would be vindicated down the road.
Life is too short to ‘worry’ about what your critics say about you, nor what evil the simple-minded are capable of creating in the local news. Take the long view. For, as one great grandmother noted years ago: “Truth WILL hunt down a lie, and BLOW it out the sky!”
Mike Ramey is a Retired Minister, KJV Bible Teacher, syndicated columnist and Bible Prophecy Specialist who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. “The Quick Scan” is one of a variety of his columns appearing and abounding in print and cyberspace, written from a biblical, business, and common-sense perspective since 1996. To drop him a line—or a whine—the address is still the same: mgmikeramey@yahoo.com. ©2024 Barnstorm Communications International.
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