Neon Family Church

Take a good look at the pictures shown above, and see what they speak to you. Take 2 minutes of your life just to think on this. I’m sure that we spend more time on TV or on Facebook. What does it tell you?

I‘d like to take you through these three pictures one by one. I can assure you that it will encourage you and help you to look at your life in a very different perspective, with a bird’s view.

When we look at the first picture shown above what do we see? Is it a complete picture of a landscape or of a person or of “The Mona Lisa”? Or is it just Grey Pixel. For many of us, this is life. So monotonous and boring; just living life as it comes, no happiness or enjoyment, and ultimately, it makes no sense at all. Things happening in life don’t add up. There is no explanation for what’s going on,  the situations and circumstances, in our life. And the questions we seek and search in our life stand still, are unanswered and are hidden. Finally, we conclude, “my life is nothing”, “I’m nobody”, “I’m not important”, “my existence really doesn’t matter to anyone”, “what do you care?” or to the extreme “I quit”.

Moving on to the next picture, some of us are just living life, almost similar to the first one, but it does make sense to an extent. We live our life striving and achieving, climbing the ladder of success, one after another, not really bothered about what our life has to offer ultimately. We live a life in pursuit, trying to paint the picture of our life with our own color, but the only problem is; we don’t want other colors or we ignore them. We are not concerned about others or their well-being. We have a target or a goal, and we will do anything in our power and strength to reach it, even if it means violating or using our colleague or friend. Here too our life is monotonous, doing the same thing, again and again, every day. Yet we still continue doing it so that we strive to complete the picture. And we finally conclude “well, I’ve made enough money and fame, now at least my children can enjoy what I didn’t have”, “I’m in control of my life. I need no one’s help”, “I don’t care about you”, “this is my life”, or sometimes give up saying “I quit”.

The next set of people is “happy people”, as shown in the third picture. We are the most fun people to go out with. Our lives are all colors – disco, women, party, sex, happiness, adventure, drugs, sports, arts, drinking, smoking, chaos, and what not. We are the best in our gifts and talents, the “Top Notch”. We enjoy our lives to the fullest, with experiences (according to us). We live a life KING SIZE, not compromising anything. Because we are the fun people, people are attracted to us, and we have even more fun, yet ignoring the huge black area that surrounds the colorful area of our life. It still remains colorless, unexplained, unused, and wasted. With all the adventures, activities, and fun that goes on, we don’t think of one thing, “Life in itself”. We don’t have any clue of why we do what we do. Sometimes when we are alone, we sit back and feel so alone; all of a sudden, life doesn’t make any sense at all. All the glorious times and enjoyment have disappeared. It just doesn’t make sense. Ravi Zacharias puts it nicely “The loneliest moment in life is when you have just experienced that which you thought would deliver the ultimate, and it has just let you down”And we conclude, “I’ve everything in my life”, “I don’t believe in God”, “I feel so empty”, “enjoy your life”, “life is short, enjoy the fullest” or to the other end “I have everything in my life, but still there is no peace”, “life sucks”, or “it just doesn’t make sense”. And many of us have and had tragic endings.

I‘d like to introduce another picture. I hope you would like it.

 

The interesting thing about this picture is that it not only looks colorful but it also makes sense. It’s the effort of an artist to capture the beauty and splendor of nature on a flat plain. However, we cannot comprehend the experience and the feeling of the artist unless we meet him face to face or unless he talks about it. A Good picture says a lot about the mindset and heart of the artist. More beautiful the picture, better is the capability of the artist to express what he saw or what his mind have conceived.

There is a set of people in this World, whose lives are like this picture. Their life is colorful, yet meaningful; nothing in excess. Everything that happens in their life has a meaning to it. It makes sense to them. It is more like they know their importance and their identity in the picture as a whole. Bad situations inevitably arise. But they find their firm ground on the meaning of life. The Artist of their life and picture is GOD.

As a person, their life individually might not make complete sense; it might only look like a few shades, but it makes sense when they connect it to the heart of the Artist. Everything makes sense in His hands. They are the colors. The Situations, circumstances, and difficulties which they go through are the brushes that He uses. Time in history are the stages in which He completes and reveals the picture, the Grand Masterpiece. In His way of doing things, nothing is outside meaning or sense. He is in complete control of what He is doing in and through those who allow themselves to be used to fit in the Grand Picture. In His view, the most difficult situations, and even death have a meaning. As shown in this picture, the Artist pushes the Picture to perfection by getting very much involved in the making, so much so that the paint is in His hand and body. There is always a cost to pay. This Artist is known by the Only Name that is above all other names, JESUS CHRIST. He is the Artist.

I am one among these people who is a small part, yet important and significant when I seek after the heart of the Artist who uses me to paint His Grand Picture. I’m proud to be a part of it. You can be too. It’s just a matter of willingness and desire for something better and sensible.

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