I am old enough to remember the 1964 New York World’s Fair. It was an amazing fair with fabulous exhibits by some of the day’s top manufacturers, and they delighted in showing us what their Research and Development departments were working on. I was not yet in my teens but I was quite impressed by the many futuristic predictions about how we would live in the year 2000. For me, 2000 seemed so far away that I imagined it would be beyond my lifetime.
Those predictions from 1964 were looking 36 years into the future. The exhibits by GE and Bell Telephone gave exciting hope to amazing times. I imagine some of the expectations of those geniuses of the day were on target but the few that I recall have become common only recently.
Now, 24 years on this side of the year 2000 even that year seems far in the past. Children born in 2000 are out of school and in the workforce. What were only dreams and predictions in 1964 are simple facts of life to those now-young adults. Their generation grew up with computers in their hands. How amazing is their ability to accommodate these devices to those of us who struggled to learn personal computers as new hardware and software was slowly doled out a piece at a time?
So what will be the next great thing for the children, now adults, of the year 2000? What will amaze them? I can only imagine the possibilities of what their future might hold but we’re still not yet living the life predicted in the Jetsons’ cartoon (1962) or Star Trek (1966) either.
My personal prayer is that more hearts will turn to Jesus. The life this age group is moving into appears so much edgier than when I was 24. And yet, I see beautiful hope in those I personally know in this age range.
I see the hope of marriages lasting a lifetime, of babies turning into beautiful children and then adults, of a future that will find them living peaceably in a settled world. We should all be praying for this to be true.
Our world at the moment is tremendously unsettled. Maybe not our personal world but the world at large is having a rough go of it. Can we see God’s hand in any of what is happening? Can we hold on to the promise that our God has everything under control? For comfort let us keep God’s promises in our prayers.
God is always God. He knows the timespan of the earth and the timespan of each life on the earth whether it is a fly, a bird, or mine. I need to believe this is true in order to keep my focus on what is important now and what will be important well beyond the year 2024.
As a Christian, the main focus of all I do is to live my life to honor God. That looks different to each person. God gave each of us a job. Some of us are writers, miners, teachers, housewives, politicians, etc. In each of these jobs, we are to honor God and give Him the glory due to Him.
A look back at 2023 and the many large awakenings, revivals, and recommitments reported in countries all around the earth gives me great hope for this year and beyond. God is working in mighty ways, in both young and old, to bring many souls into the flock which could change our world for the better.
Praise Jesus. “He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.” Titus 2:14. What amazing things might happen with many people doing God’s will and committing to good deeds? We can hardly picture how this would look but this is God’s will for us.
To some, it might seem as if we were looking backward to seek God’s Biblical view on life but God is indeed the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He created us to live with Him in
fellowship – without sin. Sin was responsible for our separation from God. Now, because of Jesus, we can put that sin behind us and be reconciled to our Father.
Picture families loving each other. Imagine it commonplace to see marriages that last 50+ years with faithful spouses. Look for the innocent faces of pure hearts and minds in our children.
People following God seek purity and wholesomeness. They fight to keep their marriages strong giving more to each other and relinquishing self-centeredness. Oh, what 2024 will look like if we begin living our lives for Him!
ED. NOTE: Amy Patsch writes from Ocean City. Email her at writerGoodGod@gmail.com.
