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I remember from years back, a pastor of mine gave a sermon mentioning about God’s sense of humor. As in, the Lord sometimes uses what we say, do, or think about on whims and turns them into lessons for our lives long after we’ve forgotten about the former. Well, it appears that my pastor was quite correct. As an example, before I graduated from high school, an opportunity came up for my class to state our personal quotes for the upcoming yearbook. Mine went like this:

“Time is a God-given thing; everyone is rationed 24 hours to use it for Him.”

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A few minutes ago, I got off the phone with someone I know very personally, albeit in an adverse manner in past memory and in tonight’s discussion. Without getting into an extended exposition, I’ll simply state that after significant alcoholic consumption on his end, along with heated vocalizing and plenty of expletives fired at me, he said something that made me reel back and think:

“You’ll never earn as much as I have.”

Strange. I’m running low on money, I can’t see my friends at school or at home due to the in-session semester, and I’m spending most of my “free” time either making artwork or searching for jobs. But the Lord assured me once again that my treasure does not lie on this earth, and that all I earn while I am on this planet is insignificant compared to the great wealth I have in Christ. What a joy it is to know for certain that though people may insult and disasters may befall upon my life, I have incomparable riches that last forever. But I pray also that this person I spoke with tonight may discover that eternal treasure too – one given for free, but paid for by priceless, sinless blood shed on the cross.

Happy Easter, everyone.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

- Matthew 6:19-20 (NIV, ©1984)

A certain friend of mine today wrote an e-mail devotional sent to the Harvest Christian fellowship, of which I used to be a sporadic member during my undergrad years. But this particular installment resonated strongly with me, because it shed light on how I’ve been overly-concerned about one task after leaving Penn State: finding a job.
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The final night before I head home from this lousy semester just ended, but I was reminded earlier about something that God implanted within me ever since I gave my life to Christ. Because in the end, the one thing that mattered most was Jesus, who gives all those who follow Him true, worthwhile purpose for their lives. And yet I wasn’t being undignified enough to share with others this revelation…
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Utterly boring. That’s what I saw in the woods and the sky along the expressway when I was driving back after seeing James Cameron’s new 3D movie. Because if there’s one thing about perceiving color in real life, it’s immediately recognizing post-production values that set new records for my eye’s dynamic range. Things initially jostled back and forth: good visuals, or good plot? Strong lead protagonists and flat antagonists, or level-headed characters everywhere? Do I really need 3D, or will normal cinema suffice? Hint: I didn’t prefer the new tech.

But Avatar, a ~161-minute movie with costs higher than the smart-as-wood Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, at least managed to get some of the things I longed for in an adventure-action film correct. Not the majority of points like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but more than enough to pass a year-end science fiction movie quality test. Want to spoil yourself? Jump, and don’t miss…it’s a long fall from here!
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