Welcome back from your first day back at school. How was it? Good? Bad? 

Well, now, lockdown is over, and we are all back to school, and our lives are starting to get normal again. Some of us have been vaccinated; some of us haven’t. Some of us have already been going out, some of us are still staying at home. Lockdown might have felt like an eternity, or the time might have flown by quickly. I don’t know about you, but these more than 100 days have gone by really quick for me. Of course, we all have different feelings about the lockdown and returning to normal. But what’s for sure is that all our lives are changing, whether it’s getting back into our regular lives or if your life has changed completely. 

It’s been two weeks since the locks have been lifted; I’ve got the chance to go out a bit. I went to the movies, cut my hair, went to church. But it all felt weird; I wasn’t sure if it was just a regular thing or if it really was strange to be back. I felt like I didn’t belong, like, I was separated from everything and everyone. It might have been the social distancing and the masks, but it just felt different. I felt vulnerable. I’ve realised that I’ve taken most things for granted. It made me feel that everything that we have could be taken away from us at any time.  

We are not in control.

We all come from different parts of the ‘excited or not-excited spectrum’ when it comes to normal life. But one thing is for sure, the life we are ‘returning back to’ is still only temporary. From lockdown, we got a glimpse of what it was like not being able to do normal things. Not being able to meet friends, not going to church, or not being able to do the things that were once so normal to do. Now, things are getting closer to what it was before, but the fact that our life is temporary has always been the same. Only after having these things taken away from me, I truly feel and realise this. Anything can be taken away from us at any time, including our life. Do you think that you are willing to let go of the wonderful things of this world? Do you think you are ready to have your life judged by God, looking at everything that you have done in your life? Do you think that you can say, “Lord, my work on earth is done.” I want you to realise that what we do matters. Take control of what you can control before the one who is in power takes it away. You have control over what you can do on this earth. Will you use your time and ability to serve him? 

Ultimately, God is the one entirely in control; he has the power to pluck you out of this world at any time. So do what God wants you to do before it is too late.  

Take every step like it is your last. 

Everything is temporary, our house, our world, and our life; it is all temporary. But there is something for sure that will last forever, the love of Christ, the knowing of Christ, that relationship and union with Him. That is the only thing that will last forever. If we take a look at Paul, while he was in prison, he wrote, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8). Paul says that everything is rubbish compared to knowing Christ. He knew that all the blessings on this earth would end and that the true treasure that lasts forever and is so great is the union with Christ. 

So, as we return back into our regular lives, know that it is all temporary. We must search for that treasure that will never end. I’ll give you a clue. It starts from your heart, alone with God. Take the time to contemplate, to meditate on His Word. It’s only through the personal relationship with Him that we can have the true treasure that never ends.

Jeremy Sangtoki (15) is a writer and videographer for RE Generation-Z. Through his passion for videography and photography, he hopes to proclaim the truth and bring more teens to Christ. Like his brother, he has a predilection for classical or baroque music. 

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