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Dirt, Bones & Living with Purpose

I recently had a new headshot made.

No, I didn’t forget to brush my teeth that morning. That stuff that looks like garden dirt is part of my face.

I laughed out loud when I first saw this image, because these words from God to Adam immediately sprang to mind:


“… you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”

– Genesis 3:19 (NLT)


The Bible may contain poetry and imagery, but Genesis 3:19 is also literal. This body is made from dirt.

And then Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, later made it clear that was not only Adam returning to dust. It’s all of us:


“… all come from dust, and to dust all return.”

– Ecclesiastes 3:20 (NIV)


When you see what a physical body is made of, it’s so clear that it’s temporary. One day in the future it won’t require any technology at all to see the view this image revealed. But I don’t find this macabre. I think it’s a miracle. That God ever got any of these bodies working and off the ground in the first place is amazing. Seriously. Who makes something this complex out of dust, breathes into its nostrils, and it works? Sometimes I can’t even get a plant that’s already alive to continue to live and grow in dirt. Never mind trying to make something out of dirt that will live.

After I got done laughing about my dirty face, I had the same thought I usually have any time I am reminded what these bodies are. Since I’m clearly in a body made of dust and headed back to dust, I would do well to get on with what God put me in this body to do. That’s not a new idea. It’s just a reminder of the same guiding principle I already live by.

It doesn’t scare me to know I’m partly a jar of clay, because my spirit–the same one that now lives with my body of dust–will go on living. I would only be afraid to die without completing the work I was put here to do. Truth like that is motivational to me, actually. Fresh reminders of my transience provide me the opportunity to reaffirm that I am doing what I was put here to do, and motivate me to diligently continue.

What I’m Doing

  • New Book Coming. UPDATE: Stay and Faith with Grit are now available.
  • Ebook Now Available: I’m excited to let you know that my book Jesus as Healer: Miracles and Meditations in Luke, previously published in paperback, is now also available as an ebook! Check it out and buy a copy for yourself or someone else.

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2 Comments

  1. Just shared your upcoming book with a friend who is waiting for healing. There is a definite need for the book you are hoping to birth.

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