Do You Meet Minium Requirements?

A co-worker came into work the other day and matter-of-factly proclaimed:

“I met the minimum requirements of motherhood this morning.”

I had to chuckle.  We all have some set of minimum requirements we believe we need to meet in order to survive each day.

But there are also a set of minimum requirements that others depend upon us to meet in order for their own survival.  If we do not nurture and care for our young, their chances of surviving in this world go down significantly.  And the younger the offspring, the less their odds for survival.  There are those in the world that are critically ill or injured that have a minimum requirement upon others for their survival.  If they do not have some very basic needs met in their lives, their odds for survival begin to plummet dramatically.  And we all depend upon others in some way or fashion.  How many of us in the world today could get by without a grocery store for food?  If your livelihood depends upon a vehicle, could you manufacture your own fuel and parts?  How many of us could provide for our own clothing and shelter?  What would our world look like and what would we, as humans be like, if we were all suddenly responsible for our own set of minimum requirements?

These questions become all the more intriguing when considered from our base world views.

For the Atheist it presents a fairly severe conundrum.    There is no meaning, after all, the entire universe is simply a petri dish of chemical and physical actions and reactions.  The fact that the majority of us seem to do our part is some outrageous statistic that is difficult to fathom at best.  Even great minds like Dr. Richard Dawkins and Dr. Stephen Hawking have stated that the appearance of order within the universe and our lives is, in fact, an illusion.  The idea that we would all just happen to come together and work towards some greater goal of survival is statistically unimaginable.  Where did this magical inner drive come from?  What is it within the natural universe that drives a process towards propagation of a species (or kind)?  The Atheist is hard pressed to find an answer within the confines of their own world view.

For the Agnostic it really doesn’t matter what the answer is or where the drive to meet any set of minimum requirements comes from.  The Agnostic simply tolerates the status quo as it meets their own set of needs and desires.  If the Agnostic finds that any one set of their basic minimum requirements is not being met, they might become anxious, or desperate, or angry, but they couldn’t really tell you why.  Nor should they care if they are truly agnostic in their world view.  Why should the Agnostic care if suddenly the portion of the world’s food supply that they depend upon were to stop?  Sure it would threaten their very survival, but they are, after all, agnostic.  And for the Agnostic, Que sera sera, whatever will be, will be.

For the Theist however, the drive to meet some set of basic minimum requirements for both ourselves, and for others, takes on a whole new meaning.  It is only within the Spiritual that we find real answers to the questions as to why we need to protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Which is exactly why the founding fathers of the United States of America prescribed these basic unalienable rights as having come from God.  Because from whom else could they come?  Certainly I could not grant such rights to you, nor could you grant them to me.  And we cannot collectively grant them to each other.  Which is why governments of the world who set themselves up as the arbitrators of such rights fail and become oppressive to the people.  The Theist also recognizes that just as they have been granted these rights from a living God, they have an obligation outside of themselves or the rest of creation to protect these rights in and for others.  The Theist must meet a set of basic minimum requirements for both themselves and others because their God expects no less.  The mere fact that a God, a Creator, outside of our limited physical existence, has granted us life and given to us the pursuit of liberty and happiness, demands that we honor the Creator by protecting and preserving the minimum requirements  of life, liberty, and happiness in the lives of those around us.  It becomes our sacred honor and duty to do so.

However, as important as these questions are, and as critical the preponderance of our answers to them is, they are not what I want to settle upon today.

There is one greater question that faces all of humanity, from Adam and Eve to each and every person alive today.  It is a minimum requirement that every person that has ever lived, is living today, or ever shall live, faces in their own life.  And it is a minimum requirement that none of us can meet of our own accord.  We are all dependent upon a another to meet this requirement in our lives, and it is a requirement that, sadly, the vast majority of humanity never has, and never will, give careful consideration to.

It is the question of Why?  What?  And Where?  Why are you here?  What is your purpose?  What is the meaning of it all?  And Where will you end up for all of eternity?

There is one very eloquent answer to these questions.  It is found in the Bible, in John, Chapter 3, and Verse 16.  And that answer is:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 (KJV)

The minimum requirement to understanding why we are here, what the purpose of life is, and to securing our place in all of eternity, is to simply Believe on the Person of Jesus Christ.  That He is who He claimed to be, the Son of the Living God, and that He came to pay the price for all my sins by dying on the cross and rising from the dead on the third day.

A very important question, critical to each of all our eternities, and it has such a simple minimum requirement.  Believe on Him.

How about you?  Have you met your basic minimum requirements for today?  More importantly, have you met THE basic minimum requirement for all of eternity?