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What's Next?

I went to a number of toddler birthday parties this year, and one thing that toddlers have in common is the way they open presents. For the most part, they never look at the present they've opened for more than a few seconds. With so many unwrapped boxes, toddlers simply must move on to the next present. Of course their parents are prodding them to do so. Left to their own natures, toddlers very well may spend more time with the open present in front of them.

Not that Christians are toddlers, of course, but think about the attitude expressed by Christians who long for either the afterlife or the return of Jesus. Instead of savoring the present they've been given -- basically, Earth and the entire observable universe -- they long for the unseen. The next present.

Why is it so wrong to stop and appreciate the life we're given? Suggest that, and Christians will frown. They have been told not to be of this world, which often times translates into not appreciating this world. Or, if they do appreciate this world, it's simply because they think doing so glorifies the unseen maker rather than the gift itself.

Do you think God made the Earth and the Universe just so we could say, "That's a nice gift, Father, what's next?"

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