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ROKU AppThe Past: Escape From the Present or Preparation for the Future?
Written by Pam Rehm
Some people seem mesmerized with nostalgia for the past for no purpose; others seek to apply its lessons to today and tomorrow.
On a recent trip to visit our daughter in Fort Worth, Texas, we took a quick sightseeing tour of Cowtown and the Fort Worth stockyards. Just driving through the area, a person could imagine the cowboys driving their herds through the streets of the long-ago Western frontier town. Fort Worth, like every other city in the world, has its own story to tell, and it’s a fascinating one.
Many people don’t have much interest in the past. But there are some people who seem mesmerized by it. Why do some people try to relive the nostalgia of yesteryear? Could it be they are trying to go back to a better, more simple time?
With the hustle and bustle of today’s ever-shrinking world, do they miss the bygone days when life had a much slower pace? Or are people just trying to recapture their youth? Are they trying to fulfill some sort of fantasy that they have imagined about the past? Or is the past somehow more romantic, more inspiring or more enjoyable than today?
The vanity of the past
King Solomon wrote, “Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ For you do not inquire wisely concerning this” (Ecclesiastes 7:10). Glamorizing the past is not wise. But Solomon didn’t glamorize the present either. He had seen much during his life, and he thought that everything under the sun was vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:14).
If everything under the sun is vanity and there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9), then what should we learn from history? Does the past really have any importance or relevance for us as we mature and grow?
Learning from the past
The most important aspects of history are the lessons that can be learned from both the good decisions and the mistakes of the past. If we examine the routine and mundane day-to-day events of history, there will be lessons to learn that we can put to use in our own day-to-day routines. And if we examine the bigger picture of history, we can learn lessons that all nations should put to use.
For example, we can learn from the good decision of the Israelites who obeyed God’s command to gather twice as much manna on Friday in preparation for the Sabbath. We can also learn from the mistake of the faithless Israelites who disobeyed God’s command to take the Promised Land because of their fear of giants.
History, whether from antiquity or from recent world events, should point each of us to one thought. That one thought is of our Heavenly Father and His plan, His way of life. As we examine the history of the world, the lessons we learn from that history are meaningless unless we apply those lessons to the way we live our lives.
Peter puts it in perspective
Having the past in perspective should motivate us to live more like Christ in the present and the future. To my mind, the apostle Peter says it best in 2 Peter 3:11-18:
“Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
“Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation. …
“You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
The Kingdom of God is coming. May God truly speed that day!
Pam Rehm is a member of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, in the Little Rock, Arkansas, area.
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