Life and the Umbrella

Life and the Umbrella

Martha and I were at the beach for the first time in years. It was really good to get away and have some down time. I guess maybe I went too “down” because as I sat on the beach I began to contemplate what would happen to the umbrella if it were left there forever. Left exposed to the elements, constant wind and sun, rain and storms, and even the wildlife, the fabric would begin to deteriorate, the metal would rust, the plastic would crack, and eventually the whole thing would be consumed back into the earth from whence it came.

I then had an epiphany. It occurred to me that everything manmade moves toward decay, destruction, and death. If left to its own, anything man begins will come to an end. Physics calls this entropy. It’s the very reason I do not believe in evolution. But I digress.

When a female’s egg meets up with the male sperm, a single cell, a zygote, is formed. Inside of this one cell is enough energy to grow a human and live a life of 80 to 90 years, and beyond, in a world that is trying to kill it at every turn. That is one amazing cell! One of the reasons this is called conception is because it is the instant that God “joins” Sprit and flesh. Physically, the egg and sperm unite. Spiritually, in the same instant a human spirit is birthed out of God’s Spirit and placed within the new life.

Together, physical and Spirit, a journey begins that will take this person through a life full of growth, discovery, development, trials, failures, and successes, until the forces of nature takes it back to the ground from whence it came. The main difference between a human life and an umbrella is the difference it will have made during the process.

Objects, such as umbrellas, are useful inventions of man to help productivity or diminish hardships. People, however, have the ability to positively or negatively affect their environment. They have the ability to create or destroy, to bring life or death, to do good or evil. The determining factor in the outcome of human existence is how well we adapt to the Spirit that is in us. The only way we can optimize our presence in the earth is for our spirit to have an encounter with Jesus Christ, His atonement for sin, and then re-joined with the Holy Spirit to live our lives on purpose for our Maker, Jehovah God.

Don’t just sit through life waiting to be made back into dirt. Maximize the time you have by living every moment for the God that created you. Some call it “Finding Your Why”, or “Live Your Dash”, or many other catchy hooks coined by authors. My favorite way to phrase it comes from Ephesian where Paul says, “Be to the praise of the glory of His grace.” I cannot think of a more simple way to say it.