{{2010_04_08_t1.jpg}} {{2010_04_08_t2.jpg}} {{2010_04_08_t3.jpg}} [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/de/doku.php/jn_de_2010_04_08|Deutsche Version]] [[Start|| Wiki Start]] [[topics_collection_ii|| Topics Collection ii ]] ======Life and Death 2 - Illness ...====== Thursday, April 8, 2010. We live in a world which knows various illnesses and problems. Currently we talk about life and death in general, but it has a personal perspective in the sense that my own body and my own mind can be more or less healthy. Of course we know this quite well and perhaps you are suffering from some serious illness currently. Or your partner is suffering. Illness is not nice and we want to get out of it if possible - as quickly as possible. {{2010_04_08.jpg }} **When I became ill** Serious illness can change our life significantly. We are not the same after we had or discovered some serious illness. What is going on? Personally, I can say that in my life illness had an important impact on how I live and think and act. Sometimes our body is strong. Then we can plan, we can start to do something. We can carry out things. But when illness hits us, our body is not strong any more. We cannot guarantee things ourselves. We start to be dependent on others. We need to receive, not to give. When you go from giving to receiving, life changes. When you receive, where is your value coming from? We will talk about this in a minute. But there is another effect of illnesses. {{ 2010_04_08_2.jpg}} Some of my illnesses demonstrate the end of life. When my teeth decay step by step, then I realize how short human life is. Imagine: your teeth are not made for eternity. They decay. They get holes and they need doctors on a regular basis. Sometimes a doctor says: everything is OK, Sometimes they find caries and you need a filling or an inlay. But these are repairs and the teeth will never get back to the original state. Over the years you get more and more of them and then they start to replace some of your teeth. Age and death is with you all the time, even if you are just 20 years of age. How is value given to us? How is your value as human determined? Are you of worth since you can do so much? Are you of value since you have great talents? Are you important because you are rich and famous? Did you discover important things for mankind? Illnesses remind us, that our value is not determined by accomplishments. Our value is determined not by capacity or achievements. Our value is solely determined by the Lord, by the eternal God. Since he loves us, we are full of value. He is the only being which has eternal life. If he gives this life to us, then we will live. If we are separated from him, we will die. Illnesses have an important role in human history. They point us to the Lord. They tell us: it is not you. You cannot reach the goal, since you have a very vulnerable body. Only the Lord is the source of life. Your value is not given to you by what you can do or what you have. It is not given to you by your creativity, not by your obedience. It is given to you by the Lord alone. Your value is grace, it is mercy, it is a present of the Lord, which he wants to give to every human through his unbelievable love. [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/en/doku.php/topics_collection_ii|... more texts]]