Something Waiting for Me

Story of the Day for Friday February 12, 2016

Something Waiting for Me

Tell them to do good, to be wealthy in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will store up treasure for themselves as a good foundation in the coming age.

1 Timothy 6:18-19

    When the Twin Towers collapsed on September 11, 2001, the hopes of many Americans collapsed with them. Suddenly, we realized just how unpredictable the future really was. This act of terrorism so shook our time frames that many simply caved in and began living for the moment. Who would’ve guessed that one of the aftershocks of 9-11 was a huge wave of cancellations at weight loss centers? Why sacrifice for the future when tomorrow might not be there?

    When we lose hope for the future, we make bad decisions.

http://secondlifechattanooga.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/hope-hand.jpg

    Joseph T. Hallinan, in his book, Why We Make Mistakes, cites an experiment where one group is asked to pick a movie they will watch in the future, while the other group is asked to choose a movie they want to watch now. The watch-it-later groups tended to pick movies that were “highbrow” — educational and culturally edifying. The watch-it-now groups, on the other hand, tended to pick “lowbrow” movies that featured a lot of explosions and chase scenes.

    Researchers discovered a similar choice pattern with food. When office workers were offered food they would eat later, they tended to choose a healthy option. When they were offered food, and allowed to eat it now, they tended to choose junk food.

    The educational outlook in East Harlem is dire. Half of the students drop out before high school graduation. In 1981, self-made millionaire, Eugene Lang, asked the school principal how many, per class, would go on to college. “Maybe one,” the principal said.

    So, Lang received permission to address the sixth-grade class. “Stay in school,” he told them, “and I’ll pay the college tuition for every one of you.”

    Lang took these disadvantaged minority kids on field trips to colleges, he provided tutors, and the door to his office was always open for them.

    Nearly 90 percent of these students graduated from college, and many went on to the university.

    What made the difference? They had hope. One student summed it up, “I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me.”

    One of the most common complaints about Christians is that they are so focused on enjoying heaven that they neglect the daily needs of those around them. “They’re so heavenly minded, they’re no earthly good,” is how it’s often put.

    But this accusation is all backwards. The Bible says, if there’s no heaven, then “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Those without a future live for themselves.

    The promise of heaven doesn’t make us lethargic. It encourages us to live. We freely give and love and care. We invest in eternity. And if we’re not spending our days doing wild, reckless, heavenly things, maybe we’ve misunderstood why we’re still here.

(copyright 2016 by climbinghigher.org and by Marty Kaarre)

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