What Is Fair In Life? Jesus Is!

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.’ (Ecclesiastes 9:11); ‘<Jesus said,>“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”’ (Matthew 20:16)

Things happen to all of us, over the course of our lives.  Rich or poor, Righteous or evil, beautiful or ugly; we all have good times and bad times throughout our lives.  Val Kilmer passed away earlier this week at age 65 with pneumonia, for example.  A handsome, wealthy movie star who fought throat cancer for the last decade and had to have a tracheotomy tube to breath and talk,.  It would seem that he was, in the secular sense, ‘blessed’ to have all the right attributes, yet his troubles were similar to many others in our nation.

I took my wife to the emergency room yesterday for a pain she was having in her upper abdominal/lower chest area, on her left side.  After several hours, though the pain subsided and completely went away – and that is not what I’m wanting to discuss, actually, though I was concerning to see her in such agony and thankfully the Lord answered the prayers of all who were asking Him for His healing upon her.  It is the doctor who was caring for her and trying to determine the cause of her discomfort.  His life is still somewhat beginning (though being a doctor, I’m certain he is in his 30’s), telling us he and his fiancée are getting married in the fall.

There was a juxtaposition between he and I; a person who will be starting his married life and I in the 43^rd year of wedded bliss.  While I somewhat comprehend my life saw the apex long ago and is on the downward slope speeding up to Eternity, his is still climbing up with prayerfully many years until he reaches the summit.  I was Righteously blessed when he asked for some advice on how our marriage lasted so long.  Though he has a very bright future (a young doctor, handsome, about to be married), he thought it prudent and wise to ask me (an old retiree, fat and Sasquatchian), and married for all of my adult life) about what makes a successful and long-term marriage.

It was humbling and yet spoke to His Faith, which he professed he had.  Lives in a secular sense going in the opposite directions, yet having a common point where the young man thought it wise to gain advice from the ‘has-been’.  Who am I to give advice to such a man who has all the pillars of success awaiting him?  Yet, there I was, giving him advice.  I believe it was God’s perfect timing to have us go to the ER at that appointed date and time to meet with the young man so he could get our advice and gain confidence in his upcoming union with his bride-to-be. 

God has been fair and all of us (and yes, I have been successful in my own level of life, thanks to the Lord’s provisions and Grace), and we find though we may not always be equal in terms of resources or gifts, are all on equal footing when it comes to the Lord.  But what of those who deny Christ, those who don’t accept Him as Lord?  Is it fair when life is good to them, and not so much to those who have Faith?

We find that God is fair and just in these two examples of scripture; there are ‘equalizers’ that God has within each of our lives.  What has someone gained who has it ‘all’ in this life, if they have every ‘positive’ attribute the world holds up (strength, athleticism, wealth, looks), and they deny there is a God, or that Jesus is not real?  What has someone lacking in if they have none of those ‘positive’ attributes but earnestly worship God?  We see though, there is equalization, as we listen and read the news that, every day, some celebrity passes away, or is stricken by loss or illness. 

Tiger Woods has it all, but even he can’t avoid injury when he drives his car off an embankment.  Even Clint Eastwood and William Shatner, both ‘tough guy’ actors, are somewhat fragile now that they are 90+ years old.  God has a way to bring equality to us all in the secular realm, whether it be the passage of time or the unfortunate chance of illness or injury to bring us humbly down.  Think David and Goliath;  Goliath had it all (undefeated World Heavyweight Champion), David did not (poor little shepherd boy).  David, at the right time hitting Goliath in the right place with God at his side, defeated Goliath at his own game (the battlefield).  Time and chance (and God) were on the side of David and not on Goliath.  The fight wasn’t ‘fair’ in it’s secular-focused initial glance, but with God, David had the unbeatable advantage.

In Matthew 20:16, Jesus speaks of the equality of Salvation; some come to Salvation early in life while some may not accept Jesus as Savior until very late in life or even on their deathbed.  Nevertheless, when Salvation occurs is not important at all, it is that Salvation occurs at all that is important.  It’s not really a question of fairness that the thief on the cross, accepting Christ as his Lord, was saved literally minutes before he died; it’s a matter of rejoicing that he repented and is saved!  True equality and fairness are that everyone, no matter their social status or worldly attributes they have, is provided opportunities to come to Saving Grace through Jesus.  Fairness is that everyone receives everlasting life after an earthly death, and fairness is that everyone is given the opportunity to choose where to spend that eternal life – Heaven or Hell.

God does not send anyone to Hell; people choose to go there over Heaven.  The fairness isn’t that people go to Hell, the fairness is in the choices the people can make.  That’s why we need to ensure to go and bring the Gospel to the people, so they can make an informed decision.  That’s where the fairness comes in.