“I,
who had ambition not only to go further than any man had been before,
but as far as it was possible for man to go.” -- Captain
James Cook, R.N. F.R.S. Master Mariner.
Yet a Higher Pursuit
From infancy, man, unlike other creatures on this planet, has an unquenchable passion to reach new heights of personal accomplishment. From crawling to running or from kindergarten to graduation, male and female, as we grow, so does our appetite for knowledge and experience.
A toddler longs to explore the outer limits of his tiny world, then as a teenager he wrestles with a veritable cauldron of hormonal confusion that screams to be released into adulthood. Here, the primal things of life are paramount--adventure, food, play, peer relationships and sexuality.
When the mature human emerges from his teenage metamorphosis, he finds himself driven to greater pursuits as never before imagined. Striving now for academic or athletic significance, primal biological cravings lose priority to the challenge for success. First of all, he wants to stand out among his contemporaries and then to be remembered for his contributions and possibly rewarded for his accomplishments.
Within this intelligent mammal blooms ambitions so much more intense than just food gathering and procreation. In this he exceeds all other animals, a creature that is confident of his superiority on this planet.
A multi-dimensional hybrid of spirit, soul and physical body
Factually, this proud, upright, infinitely complex being has broken the evolutionary theory of adaptation by continually readapting the world around him to suit his own preferential desires and life styles. He is multi-dimensional in existence, an intricate hybrid blend of spirit, soul and physical body.
Of course, at this point, it should be mentioned that not all of our race gets beyond the primal basics. Sadly, some will never aspire to accomplish anything at all. There are many who never get beyond believing that their own physical appearance or fleeting personal pleasure is the ultimate goal in life. The rest, in varying degrees, keep reaching, stretching and exercising their intellect in the hope of attaining a higher understanding and greater insight as they continue to raise their own aspirational and intellectual bar.
Has anyone ever attained the “full measure of a man?”
As humans, we often attempt to measure one’s value by our individual accomplishments, but what we may be defining is not our actual value at all, for surely all the ants in the colony are of equal worth. No, to be more specific, I believe that we inadvertently only measure the importance of our achievements relative to other peoples’ accomplishments, nothing more. But is there a limit to our achievements? Can there be an end to our refining or our accomplishments? Has anyone ever attained the “full measure of a man” the way we might all hope to be one day?
Possibly, we will have “arrived” by winning a Nobel prize, or to be Knighted and given a title, or should we strive for some nebulous spiritual enlightenment as taught by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi? Or is it possible that ultimate freedom and ascension to perfection is only really achieved by one dynamic act of martyrdom, blowing up as many as possible, people that we do not understand?
“Please!” you say, “please do not insult my intelligence in this way. Just tell me who, if any, have EVER attained the distinction of being the greatest man on earth that we should aspire to be like him?” The answer to that, without dispute, is Jesus the Christ, the Son of God! “But WAIT now,” you say, “He was special. . . He was more than a man!” Yes He was more than a man, but in His office as Savior, sanctifier, healer and coming King here on earth, He gave us the ultimate ideal for man. Jesus, even though He lived in a human body, exhibited the matchless character of His Father, God, epitomized by love. The Father in his infinite glory and omnipotence is indisputably the purest, wisest, most powerful, and revered being known to man.
In the oldest and most credible book on earth, the Bible, God presents this simple challenge: “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” Then He says, “He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, for it is written, Be holy for I am holy.” Holiness, for us, is defined as emulating the pure, matchless character of our creator God.
Our greatest human dilemma
Here, friends, is where we find our greatest human dilemma because based on our historical track record, mankind has not always personified the character of Christ! What then impedes our ability to ascend to the heights of obtaining the very character of God? What limits us in the pursuit of holiness the way God would have us to be? The simple truth is, though we may desire to walk in purity, pleasing to God, we all fall short of the Glory (holiness) of God.
Since virtually every person on earth struggles with this handicap, how can we achieve the highest calling on earth? Jesus Himself tells us, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word; and My Father will love him and We will come to him and make our home with him!” So here we see that it is only by the indwelling of the Spirit of God Himself that we have any hope of reaching our highest potential. How then do we become worthy of the indwelling of such a pure and powerful Spirit? God says, “Behold, I stand at the door of your heart and knock; if anyone opens that door I will come into him, and live with him and he with Me.” The Bible, which is God’s way of communicating to us, says that “If we confess our sins to God, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” thereby effectively removing the one thing (sin) that impedes our pursuit of the highest ambition of mankind, the pursuit of holiness.
In closing, we must realize that true holiness, as God would desire for us, is only possible by His personal indwelling. Any other form of self glory or perception of holiness that we might have is purely deceptive pride on our part as humans--mere creations of God.
© 2008 By Douglas W. Greenfield
Ecclesiastes 12:13 -14 Fear God - - keep His commandments
1st Peter 1:16 He who called you is Holy
Romans 3:10 Though we may desire to walk in purity
John 14:23 If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word
Revelation 3.20 Behold, I stand at the door of your heart and knock
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins