Different Culture, Same Heart
This summer we visited some of the ancient ruins of the Mayan people. Over the years of traveling, I’ve learned about other ancient cultures in Europe, South America, and Asia, and I think each one is fascinating but mysterious, as well. I marvel at how they were able to think, invent, and construct the incredible things they did, such as the temple of Chichen Itzá. Did you know that if you stand at the base of the northern side’s steps and clap, somehow the sound that returns is not your clap, but the call of the bird, the quetzal? So much of what they “knew” still holds such truth, even now with what we have in “modern science.”
Their work could never be seen as coincidence.
I ask God, “How did they do it? Were their knowledge and abilities gifts from You? Or by some chance, were they abilities You allowed them to receive from the evil one as he would have tried to distract them from Your truth? How could they do such things?”
I think these questions trouble me because I’m not able to know how these cultures came about their skills and knowledge so long ago–before the modern tools of today. Perhaps people in the future will wonder how we have done what we have with the “crude” tools we are so proud of…
It is so weird to think about the peoples of this world who lived before Jesus (or those who never heard of Him), yet who knew there was a god of some kind. It challenges me to think about how our God sees these millions/billions and their faith, and how they worshipped the true God, if they did.
What we do know is that beneath all the trappings and ingenious ways of man, there still lies a heart that never changes.
With all the advancements of technology and our ever-increasing abilities, we have the same heart, soul, and spirit as every other human in history. We all are souls that need saving, walk around in bodies that are mortal, and have spirits that seek after God. Time has moved on, but the continuous state of man has never changed. We are a dependent, empty, and sinful creation that needs our God to save us and make us whole.
Our personal free will is a gift. Some might see it also a curse because we can’t use it correctly in this fallen state of ours. The bottom line is that we need Him. We are no more capable of reaching God than are the ants or the elephants. We can think, plan, reason, and choose, but our abilities and fallen nature are never enough. We need the Lord and that’s why He came to us.
We forget how blessed we are to live “on this side of the cross.”
I’d like to think that I would have been devoted to Him if I had lived in another time or place, or under different circumstances, but I have no idea. Yet, I am grateful. I am saved by the grace of God and the blood of Jesus. I have been set apart and am being sanctified day by day by the Holy Spirit. I am nothing without Him, and I am fully dependent on Him for life in every way.
I wouldn’t want it any other way! Thank You, God!
GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME!
