The Bottom Line: Part 1

      Looking up at the sanguine sunset, pinks fading to hues of purple and blue, wispy clouds transforming before your eyes, is a universally stunning sight. It is rare for such a common sight to be so widely recognized as a mesmerizing scene. The sky in its eminence possesses a unique ability to cause individuals busy with life to pause for a moment, however brief, and stare in wonder at the marvelous rainbow of fluid colors and water vapor. The smell of a humid summer's day with just enough wind to keep cool matches the tones of a blushing sky. The crispness of late autumn and winter accentuates the rapidly blackening ceiling of the world. The sky echoes our atmosphere around us. It is one of those things so abstract that it cannot really but described, but must be experienced. The blissful solitude of a peaceful, steadfast sky is haven for an overwrought mind.
      Unfortunately, it goes against nature to simply let things be and breathe in the moment. Most people (myself included at times) have difficulty grasping the recondite forms designed in nature and in life. We want the bottom line, the X marks the spot, the most concrete answer possible to reach our end goal.  The human race is fixated on numbers; weight, clothing size, grade point averages, test scores, prices, calories, friends on Facebook, blood test results, evaluations, time, box office and music billboards, and so much more. Nearly every concept in modern day life can be measured by some number system. What is the appeal of a numbered life? How do we presume to take something as unusual and unique as a human and label every aspect of them with a strict, definite number?
       Although said time and again, the cliche that "life is a mystery" is impeccably true. In our lifelong desire to control what happens to us, as a whole we tend to seek closure for all the ambiguity in life - because it's disconcerting. Slapping a number or label on everything proves us with a sense of accomplishment, a sense that we have "figured it out". Whether or not you are an organized, attentive person, the urge to answer the questions of life for yourself is still stolidly present. There is an obvious error in this judgement that, no matter how reputable the motives are, our ways of "fixing" the problems are consistently faulty. Luckily, we aren't left out to drown in life if we are in communion with the Lord. 

"Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
    but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

22 What a person desires is unfailing love[a];
    better to be poor than a liar.

23 The fear of the Lord leads to life;
    then one rests content, untouched by trouble." - Proverbs 19: 21-23

     Our purpose in life is never to figure things out on our own, but to listen to God's plans for our life. Although it goes against every carnal desire in our souls, the pertinence of abiding by God's plan is the most promising future one can have. 
      The answers thought of by man leave us in more of a rut than in the first place. In this day and age, the popular method of judging character is labeling; goth, jock, geek, flake, weirdo, messed up kid, depressed, outgoing, shy. To the same effect, numbers are used to rate inanimate objects. If we can't understand something (like if we're doing well in school) we stick a number on it and it does that for us. You may have gotten a 100% on a science test and not have retained any information, but at least you got the grade!
      In the beginning, when God spoke the universe into existence, he did not say "Adam will weight 174 pounds, his children will have 100%'s in all their classes, and he will make $100,000 a year". No, this is what the Bible states: 

"Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature." - Genesis 2:7

     Man is not a number, or a label. Man is a living creature formed in the image of God and crafted to his pleasure. Humans are brimming with transgressions against a holy Savior, yet love has been extended. The numbers are barely worth a grain of sand at the shore in comparison to the splendor of the family of God. 
     If the entire world were blind, what would we have to judge? Obviously looks wouldn't add to the equation. If we also could not speak? Communication would die and a new form of gossip would have to be created. The outside casing of ourselves, our performance to the rest of the world, is so finite when we stop and breath in the same life God breathed into Adam (Genesis 2:8). A wonderful, famous quote by C.S. Lewis sums up this point beautifully. 

http://imgur.com/gallery/7O7H7

     Our definition of perfection and excellence is as flawed as the creators of it. Throughout their lives, everyone will receive unwanted labels. All of us will feel the pressure of numbers and their impending importance in our existence. But, there is a great relief from this pressure. 

Via flickr

    No human is capable of perfect love (1 Corinthians 13:4-8), but God is. We serve a mighty king who adamantly rejects these man made labels and signs, boasting our failings to the world and causing dissension among everyone. God's love is label and number free. God cares for our souls and our salvation, not our popularity via social networking and the price of our latest shopping spree. We serve a gracious Lord who assures us that we are infinitely more loved than the number on a scale, grade on a test, or petty label.