Letters to my Stepdaughter V

This was written in January of 2013.

Have you ever thought about the enormity of everything around us?  I do.  I am writing this at about 7:30 P.M.  Here are some facts.  I am only one of over 7 billion people in the world.  Since I woke up this morning nearly 300,000 babies have been born and about 125,000 people have died.  One thousand today have died by some form of violence.  There have been over 100,000 abortions, which is almost as many as the number of deaths.  What is the point of this?  It is an inescapable fact that, in one sense, I am very insignificant.  In that sense, I am just a number.  On top of that, I live on a tiny planet in a galaxy that is part of a universe that has trillions and trillions of galaxies.  I am only a speck.  Now, that can leave me with a sense of a futility.  I will be dead and gone in a comparatively short time, so what about me really matters? 

Now, let me make a connection.  You and your mother have begun a Bible study, a study in a small New Testament book called Colossians.  The one who created this incredibly large universe providentially determined that a book – the Bible – would be given as a gift to His people.  In His incredible, incomprehensible mind He determined that you two would be studying it in the year we call 2013.   The words in this Book are life to believers, to those whose eyes have been opened and ears unstopped in order that they might begin to understand just a little – and just enough to make Him their greatest treasure – about this all-mighty, all-powerful God.  As you study, I hope that you will grasp what God has done for those who believe.  This book unfolds the wondrous plan of salvation.  God’s word is meat and drink, a glorious feast for Christians. 

One of the gracious gifts that God has given to his children is the inner joy that we experience knowing that we have eternal life in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  I hope you also see its sober warnings.  We are warned not to be entrapped by the philosophy of the world.  We are warned to turn from what God calls sin.  We are commanded here (and in many, many other places in scripture) to maintain pure worship, sexual integrity, a love of the truth, love for others, and persevering faith.  Wow, that’s a lot.  And it is impossible for anyone not filled with the Spirit of God to be able to do it.  I will be praying for you as you study.  Like me, you are a small speck in this universe.  May God reveal to you what it means to live not as a meaningless speck, but as an adopted child of the Living God.