Self Preservation

      Self-preservation is built into our general make up. Much of what we do and how we react displays this common trait. Considering self-preservation, what are our general concerns, what are our acts in preserving our comfort and continued existence? There are many things we need to consider to ensuring that our life style continues to the good, to protect our future, our financial security, our precious health, our needed insurance matters, our basic creature comfort, our safety responsibilities and our family. All these matters are of importance, but all are directed toward the present, up to and including our retirement years. Our self-preservation concerns might bring on an involvement with self-defense methods, possibly marshal arts, a security system for your house and vehicle, or possessing a firearm of some sort for personal defense. For some souls, their main concern is focused beyond this life and beyond the grave; however, science and society has no conclusive evidence of anything beyond our last earthly breath. We can imagine endless scenarios after the grave, but this is fueled by our desires in conjunction with our built-in need to preserve one self. It's unimaginable to consider ourselves not to be thinking and enjoying all the rewarding senses we now take for granite; to consider experiencing nothing at all, as it was before we were brought forth from our mother, this is truly difficult to consider and hard to bear.

     Where does this self-preservation trait that all life possesses come from? Did natural selection incorporate this attitude, this powerful desire within us, even in the simplest forms of life? Would life have ever progressed forward without this survival instinct? Could an accident of floating elements connecting together originate this ability? This simple but needed trait reveals a designed-in element, from a designer. "Mother Nature" is often given the credit, but this is only a name given to a wishful theory by society for this accidental process that supplies no explanation or possesses no ability of reason. As to the unpopular alternative, the possibility of a Designer, there is only one who has explained His designs in detail, in book form, which reveals its character, unchanged throughout a four thousand year period, this one Designer is the God of the Bible. He also explains the purpose for this life that He created, that we now experience, by some method beyond our knowledge, imagination or control. By reading His explanations of things and His reasoning behind His design of all things, joined together with His complex perfection and interdependency of life systems that we share and live in, it is evident that a Master intellect was needed, for us to be brought to what and where we are at this point. It has been determined that what our brain accomplishes in a split second, a computer can only accomplish in hours and involves a multitude of computers to do just some of the work our body does instantly. The information our brain processes is beyond any comparison to what our computers can do. Could this have developed through natural selection, by accident, as it is taught in our schools? We can only entertain this thought, but to believe it would take something beyond faith. Yet, it is also beyond our comprehension that an intelligent being can design such a complex system that makes up our earth, with its people and all the needed ingredients that can perfectly sustain man's existence. All this is certainly way beyond our own very capable understanding, in totality. We keep learning of our world and its far reaching complexities, but it just leads to more complexities and deeper questions we can't in a host of lifetimes begin to answer.

      We were given this inter desire of self-preservation, for more then just continuing our existence that we now experience, it leads humanity, even more importantly toward the purpose of choosing what God Almighty and His Son has made available to us, to all mankind, to the full worth, that the God who created us for, just this purpose, to live using our complete design, which has been degrading these past six thousand years, since Adam and Eve. For this, we need to choose and prepare for during this life and condition, a future with our Creator, beyond the life we behold at this moment, or to choose the alternative or not to choose at all, which is the same as choosing against Jehovah's rich offer. God Almighty has given us the ability, responsibility and privilege of choosing our individual destiny. This relates to us the expression of God Jehovah's love for man; to respect this choice we have before us, by considering our God's endless expressions of His creativity, having given us this world we live on and His promise of a new and flawless world for our next home, which will be much beyond our best imaginations. This choice before us confirms His love and His respect for His created human beings.

      For those who choose and desire to love our Heavenly Father, who initiated our existence, for His purpose to love us and His desire to receive our love in return, His kingdom will be our inheritance, "And the King will say to those on His right, Come the blessed of My Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Matthew 25:34) and "The one overcoming will inherit all things, and I will be God to him, and he will be the son to Me." (Revelation 21:7). What God has given us with His word is His understanding of love, that this is the substance that will make our spirit come alive, to love others and to receive love in return. This is the breath of life itself and this breath originated with God Jehovah, "The one who does not love has not known God, because God is love." (I John 4:8). God has shown His love for us by first, brining us into existence and supplying all our physical needs, but He didn't make us perfect, as He is perfect, even though He made us in His image, He made us imperfect because God so well knows that love is only pure if a choice is made to love. In order for us to make this choice, we need to know of love and the opposite of love, we need to know of good and of evil, both to be experienced and to be understood, in order to make a valid decision for our future, individually. The "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil" was present before Adam and Eve, and them having been tasted, this decision remains before us today, for us to know both good and evil, so we have the proper knowledge to choose wisely. He is the good for us to behold, Jehovah who loved us before we were to exist. He desires to be loved, just as we desire to be loved, because He made us that way, as He is. It is no mistake that we are in this period of time on earth, surrounded with evil and good and often it is hard to distinguish between them, but God has given us guidelines and examples on what is good and what is wrong, all contained in His book, the Bible, just for the purpose of our education and guidance. Our choice is essential and to carrying out our choice with action is also necessary. What God Jehovah has asked of us should not be just a wish but the desire in our heart from an understanding of why He has called us to do His commands, which Christ gave us from His Father. We are to study, learn and contemplate the reasons that God gave us these commands and laws. All His laws are for our benefit, for our good fortune and for our co-existence, and they will be the standard in the kingdom of God, which is to come, it is to our advantage to develop them into our heart now and to discard anything contrary to God's way, because anyone holding on to a transgression of God's word will not be allowed to enter His kingdom, because it will contaminate His pure environment. Now is the time of cleansing for each of us, later will be too late, this is the reason for this time of life we are now living, a period of education and reasoning. Embrace a future with our Creator, now, by knowing His perfect way, abundantly revealed, only in His word.