POV

POV
Dr. John E. Morgan
Dr. John E. Morgan, Pastor-Collinsville Baptist Church

By Dr. John E. Morgan

Pastor–Collinsville Baptist Church

Death Valley.  We searched closely for life.  And more closely for any break from the heat.  It was June.  The temperature under the edge of the roof of the Ranger Station in Furnace Creek read 123 degrees.

The six of us had entered Death Valley coming over the mountains from Nevada on our second family trip west.  As we paused at the top of the mountain, we could see a lot of rocks.  Dust.  Sand.  An occasional dust covered weed.  And could feel the terrible heat.  Signs as you enter the park warn not to use the car air conditioning.  Too hot for air conditioning.

We bought a couple of baggies of dates freshly picked and cut into pieces at a one person stand.  Delicious.  They almost made my wife smile.  She is never, ever a complainer.  Except that day.  She was ready to get out of the Valley.  I told her it was an amazing place.  Astounding how thin the line between life and death was there.  She was unimpressed.  I told her that as long as we kept the car moving with the windows down it wasn’t too bad.  She did not agree.  Sweat evaporated so fast it did not seem to exist.  No cooling.  Hot and very dry.  I suggested she try another date.  She was not happy.  And my two older sons were on her side.

So I started the 25 mile drive out of the valley heading for the west exit.  The valley was over 200 feet below sea level.  We were headed toward the west and the Panamint Mountains towering over 10,000 feet high.  The road would gain 5,000 feet in elevation, a mile higher.  We worked our way up the mountain.  It got a little less hot.  As we went over the crest, there was a dusty, unpaved pullover.  I headed in and stopped the car.  We got out stretching and rejoicing at leaving the oven.  We walked over to the edge and looked back down into Death Valley.  My wife agreed it looked a lot better from up here.  The sun going down behind us shone down on the heat waves and patches of dust clouds blowing.   It looked peaceful.  From afar.

I walked back across the parking area to look at where we were going next.

A gasp.  In front of me across another valley were the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  The contrast was astounding.  Below us was the little town of Lone Pine.  Past it were the mountains and green.  Real green.  Trees, grass.  In the middle of our view was Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states.  Over 14,000 feet.  Almost three miles higher than Death Valley.  On its top was snow.  In June.  Later that night, the temperature went below freezing, a hundred degree change in about two hours and 100 miles.  My wife came and looked with me.  Green.  Snow and water.  Life.  We looked back the other way.  Dust.  Sand.  Death.

It just depended on your point of view.  Your POV.  Look east.  Death.  Look west.  Life.  I can’t imagine a more dramatic contrast.

Unless it is the difference in the POV of a Christian and a non-Christian.

There has been a lot written in the last few years about worldviews.  Attempts to define a Christian worldview.  Is it about marriage, sexuality, poverty, social justice?  I just know that when a Christian bows at the cross to surrender to Jesus, the view changes.  We see life.  Everlasting.  We look back at the world and see only death.  Quite a difference in POV.

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”.  John 11:25  Choose life.