Category: Pride and selfishness

Are you a slave?


I read the book, “12 years a slave”, over the weekend and I never learned this in high school or college history. Any of it! Oh, I had heard that things were really bad in some areas of the South but I didn’t know how bad that it really was. Yes, I am a white man but as far as I know none of my ancestors owned a slave, at least as far back as the Civil War era. For all of those who had family and friends, and I know that there are many of you, who either owned slaves or were slaves in the past that history has been acknowledged and it was dealt with in our past. It is true that the hatred and feelings still bubble up to the surface from time to time, but it shouldn’t make that much difference in our personal relationships today.

That being said, there are many who are still in slavery today. It is well hidden because the media doesn’t report it, but it is there. Children and young people, boys and girls, are captured or coerced into going with someone that doesn’t have their best interests at heart at all. They are sold as sex slaves or as servants in some capacity all over the world, but many are right here in America. Slavery has not gone away, it is hidden behind locked fences and gates, inside mansions or in brothels overseas. Their living conditions are usually very close to starving or they are addicted to drugs to keep them where they are.

Are you still a slave today? Do you know anyone who is? I know that there aren’t any plantations that have slaves today, but do you feel like you are a slave to your job, or to the government? Are you in debt so much that you are a slave to it and have to work, making the money to pay it off? What about cigarettes or alcohol or gambling, anything that can make you addicted to it can be a “master” to you? So, in many ways today, there are lots of people who are enslaved to something!

What can be done about it? Well, as far as the kids that are enslaved, it is not easy. There are groups which are trying to rescue them as well as stop those who are the perpetrators of these crimes. But since these are hidden from plain sight, without money and some help from eye witnesses, the proof is hard to come by. As for the others types of slavery, they are personal masters that can be overcome only with your will-power and by prayer. God Himself can give you the will and the power to overcome them, if you will acknowledge Him for His help and ask Him to help you. Many people know that they need Him, but they are too proud to admit it. The problem with this is that God and Jesus have made it very easy for you to ask and receive their presence in your life, so why don’t more people do this?

The slaves who knew about Jesus did quite a bit of praying and asking for His presence, so why don’t we do this today? He loves you and cares about your life, especially your eternal life in Him, which you will have if you have given your life to Him. If you have not asked Jesus into your heart, what are you waiting for? We have today, each one of us, but what about tomorrow? You and I are not guaranteed tomorrow, your life may be required of you tonight or in the morning, so what will the answer be? Jesus is the answer to your life’s needs. He doesn’t provide you with money or drugs or anything that this world recognizes as “necessary”, but He does provide you with the only path to salvation which will provide you with eternal life. And that is worth more than anything that this world can offer!

Without God, what’s the point!?


A quote that I read a while back said that men in the twentieth century have forgotten God. I know that many have tried to say that He is dead and that He doesn’t exist, but how can you forget God? With everything around you in the world and in the universe itself, how can you possibly forget God!?

I know that all of everything is supposed to have come about by some cosmic accident. Something went “Boom!” and then billions and billions of years later everything just put us and everything else into the place where we are and that is that, right?

NO! Explosions involving trillions of tons of matter and chemicals don’t just form up into planets and people and trees and fish. It just doesn’t work that way! Entropy and all of the thermodynamic forces will devolve into less organized bits and pieces given time, but it doesn’t go the other way! Some of the bits and pieces may clump together and become planetesimal bodies, but belief in all of this coming together into living biomasses by accident is by definition insane.

God is the Creator and Designer of everything and everyone in the universe. His place is outside of time because He designed it as well. He can see the beginning and the end and all that is in between them. God is not taken by surprise because He can see those things which are happening and the ones which are going to happen. Life is precious to Him, all of life is precious to Him. From the fish in the sea to the sparrows in the field to a newborn baby in a hospital, each life is precious to God and to push Him out of our lives or try to legislate Him out of our children’s lives is wrong!

We need Him and the moral compass that He gives to each of us because without it we really do act like animals. Humans are selfish and immoral by nature. There are some who are taught right from wrong at an early age, and they will take that with them, but there are many who are not and it is those, regardless of the country or racial strata that they come from, that we hear about on the news. It is the part of society that shouldn’t be getting the exposure but it is. The good part of society, the people who are doing good things usually are not heard about unless they try to help someone who doesn’t want their help and kills them. Then, we don’t hear about he good thing but the bad.

Why are we this way? Because mankind has forgotten God! Some might turn that around and say that God  has forgotten us, but He can’t and He won’t! We are created by Him to be special, to be something which most don’t realize until they get much older. I didn’t realize that I had a purpose that God had given me until I was in my forties. Some may not “get it” until later than that, but the point it that there is one! God doesn’t turn His back on you until you have turned away from Him, if He has been calling you. If He has not, then you have to make the move toward Him and realize that you need Him in your life. This is not an easy thing to do for us because we want to do everything like children, “I can do it myself!”.

That kind of thinking can get you and each person in the world into some places that we can’t get out of. There is no real point to life without God because if you aren’t His or don’t have Him in your life, then you are only working for yourself. Some may think that that’s the point of life, to work for yourself and your family and don’t worry about anyone else. If that is how you feel, then that is a very selfish way of looking at life! Who gave you your life, your family and your job? You didn’t create any of these, God is the One that provided them. They are the blessings of God toward you, each of you and if you can’t see that then your eyes aren’t open at all.

 

Why not Jesus?


Do you believe in Him? Does He offend you?

Is belief in Him too hard or offensive to you?

Why?

What is so offensive about Jesus? Is it because Christianity believes that He is the Son of God or because He died on the cross and rose from the grave alive to ascend to the Father?

He is the only Savior that we have, all of us, and yet few people claim to be true Christians. Many do claim to be Christians but they say they only attend church when they feel like it or they only go to church once or twice a month. How is that being a follower of Christ? Peter, James and John didn’t follow Him on Monday and Wednesday only and let the other disciples take over during the rest of the week! Being a “sometimes” Christian is like being a sometimes husband or wife, how long would that last? Not long at all!

The price that you are willing to pay for hope and strength in any situation, depending on the severity of the situation, is also dependent upon your desire to find hope and salvation in that situation. Your life, whether it is this one or the one for eternity, is precious to God whether you believe it or not. Nothing that God has done or will do is dependent upon you or your input or opinion, it is up to Him and what He desires for you and your life! Belief in that is good but it is not necessary because He will cause things to work in such a way that His will and purpose will be fulfilled.

Sometimes or part-time relationships don’t work or last for long, whether it is a friendship, a committed relationship or one that is supposed to be one that is for your own salvation! Part-time commitments just don’t last. The one who is doing things part-time is you! Jesus is all in, He has loved you since before the world began and it was His love for each of us that held Him to the cross, not those nails.

If you have ever felt a tug or a pull on your heart, inside while you were reading something inspirational or maybe at a service of some kind, that was the Holy Spirit knocking at the door to your heart. The only thing that you need to do is to invite Him in. You don’t have to clean up your act or get to be a better person, that will happen when He comes to live with you. He will clean up your heart and your mind and make you a new creation. Your belief in Jesus and asking Him into your life is all that is required on your part and as long as your change is real, you will never lose it.

If you just have a feeling, all fuzzy and warm inside, but no change in your life. No real relationship change between you and Jesus, then maybe you need to check again. Pray and talk to God, read the Word and ask Him to make Himself real to you. He will hear your prayer if you mean it, but He knows whether you do or not. You can’t fool Him and you can’t hide from Him either. Remember Jonah? He tried to run from God and His call too, and look where he ended up? Once you truly decide to let Jesus into your life, you are never alone again. It is your choice and yours alone which will decide your eternal destiny, but if God has called you and you have felt it please don’t ignore it because He has something great in store for you!

Can you reconcile Jesus’ limitations?


There are many who deny that Jesus was the Christ because He seems to be limited in His ability as the Son of Man. But, did you ever consider that He limited Himself because of His love for us? Think of this: the question has often been posed about whether God could create something which He could not move, but this question sets up a paradox which doesn’t exist. Since God created the whole universe, as expansive as it is, the answer to the question is “no, He would not”, not that He could not. There would be no point in creating something so large because He already has created something which we cannot comprehend, limitless time and space. We cannot see the edge of the universe because our limited instruments can’t penetrate any distance past which time allows and time is controlled by God Himself.

Jesus’ limitations while living as a man, were the same limitations that we have except when He asked the Father to glorify Himself for a reason, such as bringing Lazarus back after four days in the grave. He proved His control of the elements when He came to the disciples by walking on the water, man cannot do this without the aid of some trickery or manipulation of the video by computers. Yes, Jesus had limitations but they were limitations that allowed Him to be the Son of Man. He could’ve done far more, but if it did not serve the purpose for which He came then why bother?

Just as someone who has a fast car doesn’t exercise that speed every time they are on the highway, Jesus did not use His power as Creator unless it suited His purpose for being here, unless it actually punctuated Who He was and why He came! There is no need nor reason for using power when you have it unless it is needed for a reason, specifically to glorify God!

Yes, He could’ve forced Israel to see Him as Who He was, He could’ve made it abundantly clear but that would not have taken His message to the rest of us. He came to bring the good news of the Kingdom of God to all people and that wouldn’t have happened if He had done things the way that we might have done them! We think small in most areas, God thinks in terms of eternity, which we can’t even imagine.

Our lifespan is tiny in comparison to even one billion years and that is small compared to eternity! God sees all because He is outside the limitations of time. He sees your life from your physical birth all the way to the day you die and everything in between. Yet, the most important decision in your life has nothing to do with your job or your family or your finances, it involves your relationship with Jesus and the decision that you make about Him. Will you believe in Him and follow Him so that others can see His work in your life and want that in their lives? Or will you decide that you can do it on your own, without Him? Your way may be a life filled with helping others, giving of your time and energy so that others can have a better life, doing things for those who may not be able to do for themselves but if you are doing this without the love of Jesus in your life it will gain you praise from men but it will avail you nothing when you come to God and present your life to Him.

The question at that point is, “What did you do with Jesus?”

If your life was spent in your own strength and your own ability to do good things for people, then it may have gained you praise from them but your reward perished with you!

The lasting legacy of a life lived through Christ is that you will live into eternity and so will those who have benefited from His love that was expressed in your life toward them. Jesus lived His life in service to the Father’s will and also in service to those that He came to bring the message of life to. He did this without being arrogant, but by being a humble servant to all. Power flowed from Him into their lives and enriched them, it did not corrupt Him or those who learned the lessons that He taught. This is the legacy that we are to bring to our world and those around us while we are able to do so, this is the message of a life lived through Christ and His life lived through yours!

The brevity of life


This week our community has lost two people. One died of complications due to illness likely brought on by her age, the other died in a head-on car crash. I knew them both, not well because of events in our lives that have kept us apart, but I knew them.

The lady who died in the car crash, I considered a friend because we graduated from high school together. I have not spoken to her in over ten years just because of life-issues I suppose. She lived in another city, worked there while I worked elsewhere and had to take care of my family and life. Just as we all do, living our life tends to isolate us from each other, even best friends from school who do live relatively close to each other, don’t cross each others path except on special occasions.

The lady who died from congestive heart failure is a family friend and has been for many years. We lived within five miles of each other and at one time saw each other every Sunday at church, until she got too sick to get out of her house much. The point of this is how brief life can be. In the news this week we have heard of a twelve year old who killed a teacher then turned the gun on himself, and another in a different part of the country that killed a teacher.

Both of the teachers were less than fifty years of age. The ladies which I spoke of were in their eighties and fifties respectively. Our lives are not guaranteed to be long and fruitful and in many cases lives are cut short for little or no reason in the days that we live in.

Children die of cancer before they even get started in life, mothers and fathers die in car accidents or other accidents every day, then there are the senseless killings…abortion of babies that can’t even defend themselves, people using drugs or getting off of their medication and killing people. The wars and other engagements around the world kill hundreds of people and its called “collateral damage” because they were not combatants, they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Yes, life is brief by many standards. Even when you consider that some live to be ninety or even one hundred years of age or more, it is still brief. Why do I say this? It is because even those who do live that long, usually don’t enjoy their quality of life very much after they reach sixty or seventy years of age. Even with our medical technology, the costs of taking care of your needs exceeds what society says you are worth. Now, they are talking about putting “older generation” patients on an end of life scale! What is that!!

This wouldn’t have been discussed at all thirty or forty years ago and yet it seems to be an accepted topic of discussion in the news today. Our lives are short enough as it is, without the doctors and medical staff helping it along by not providing care once you reach a certain stage in life.

The fact is that God created us with an eternal soul which carries on our life after this body dies, so in truth we should be preparing for an eternity before we die in this world! I know that there are many who don’t believe this, but the question that I always ask is this: “What if I am right?” What will you do if, after spending your life denying God and His existence, you open your eyes after this body dies and you find yourself in front of the Judgement seat with the One that you don’t believe in sitting on it? It won’t matter how long or short your life was because at that point the only question to be answered is, “Why didn’t you believe?”

Your reasons won’t make any difference. Nothing that you did in life which was generous, kind, helpful, or any version of righteousness other than that of Jesus will do you any good at all at this point. Yes, I am trying to scare you! Because the eternity that comes after a life of disbelief and rejection of God‘s grace is not a happy, loving one at all! You have placed yourself in the same camp with Satan and his demons by doing that, and nothing at that point will save you from your punishment.

If, you can bring yourself to realize that you need Jesus and will repent of your sinful ways before you die, then your eternity will look totally different. I can’t tell you how heaven looks or feels or smells, but I am sure that it would be preferable to the other alternative.

 

Charismatic movement a cult?


I just read a little of the article which carries this as the title and I couldn’t believe it! If the Holy Spirit is drawing people to Christ all over the world right now, I don’t care if they are speaking in tongues or jumping pews or whatever, if God is getting the glory for it then it is not a cult! On the other hand, if the man or woman bringing the message is getting the glory then it most likely is a cult!

Jesus told His disciples that “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:44). If the Holy Spirit is moving in the world today, and He is, then who are we to say that it is wrong? The Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God is moving and will continue to draw those who will answer the call to come to Jesus until the Father decides otherwise. It will do so until the end of the age, if God wills it, so who are we to say if it is something out of the ordinary.

Arguing and fighting between denominations and churches should not be happening, and yet Satan will cause this to happen because if he cannot get rid of the church then he will tear it apart from the inside. He has done it before, numerous times in the past, and he will continue to do it. If we can’t agree on Biblical teaching and preaching and stick to the Word of God as the Truth, then we are wrong altogether, regardless of denomination or translation.

The disciples argued among themselves during their evangelistic efforts after the resurrection, about doctrine and law. The point is that if we are going to show a united front to the world as Christians, then we cannot allow the body of believers to come apart because of disagreement between doctrines and denominations. The facts are that our churches have come apart in the last two centuries, mostly over small disagreements and sometimes over things which have nothing to do with evangelism or Christ.

This is the kind of divisive work that Satan enjoys the most because he can show that we are petty, spoiled children. Unable to cooperate or get along with each other and continually sniping at each other about points of doctrine and disciplines and man-made laws that our congregations should abide by if they want to belong to a certain conference.

How is it that Christians can claim to know the Truth from God’s Son, Jesus, and yet we make up rules and statutes and disciplines for those who belong to our conferences to follow? Isn’t this what the Pharisees and Sadducees did in Jesus’ day? They laid so many rules and regulations on their people until they couldn’t possibly fulfill them all. Many of our churches today are doing this, especially in the Methodist group of churches. I am not against the Methodist denomination, but it seems that they are a divisive and divided group.

There is little wonder why people call the church a place of hypocrites, because it seems that we cannot make up our minds which way we will follow Christ. Biblically we are supposed to be following Jesus and the doctrine that He taught, not our own! After His resurrection and ascension, individual congregations existed in different localities, but they were not religiously divided. All of them had the same pattern of organization, doctrine, worship, salvation, etc., so why can’t we do this today? The reason is Satan himself. He is the one who is putting the divisions and the jealousy in our churches to break them apart so that they will be ineffective for God’s kingdom!

We must cling to the Word of God and to its doctrines and not our own. Stick to the teachings of Jesus and don’t add anything to it nor draw your own conclusion from it, if the wisdom is not coming from the Holy Spirit then it should be questioned and proven through the Word of God. Pray that our churches can stay the course until Jesus arrives in the clouds to take His saints home.

What is truth?


Pilate said, “What is veritas?” Asking Jesus what is truth before He was sent to the cross. He had the Truth standing right there in front of him and didn’t know it. So, what do we believe is the truth today? Is truth relative to each person or their situation?

Today, many people claim to have their own version of truth, because many people say that “truth is relative”. Is it really?

How large is the Earth? Would you accept that its equatorial diameter is 12,756 km as the truth? Considering that we can all look this number up in the library or on-line, I would think that it would be accepted. All of the planets in the solar system have been mapped and measured and the Sun has too, so any statements made about them will be accepted as truth as long as I don’t change anything.

What about your beliefs? Do you have a faith in something that is accepted as fact and can be proven by other means rather than faith? Many people who are religious in any way, can’t prove their faith or belief scientifically because the major religions of the world were started hundreds or thousands of years ago. All that they have to base their belief on is a written account which was written many years ago. So, how do you know it is the truth? Can you prove it?

Most of the great scientists of the last few centuries like Newton, Bohr, Kepler and others were Christians who were trying to prove things which were found in the Scriptures. In the book, “Temple at the Center of Time”, it is written that Isaac Newton was searching for the knowledge that was given to those who lived before the flood. Original knowledge given by God. Could this be proven? By today’s scientific methods?

If you read this book and look at Newton’s work and the math that he used, then it is possible to prove many of the theories as well as much of the prophecies contained in Scripture. Considering this, the proof is in the Book itself and since it was inspired by God, Who cannot lie, then it must be the truth!

Of course, there are people who don’t believe anything that is in the Scriptures. It is supposedly a book that was dreamed up by the men who wrote it and very little of it is true. The Jewish scholars would have to disagree with you on that point because they were very meticulous about the written history of their people, which is what most, if not all, of the Old Testament is. Also, the prophecies written by those prophets hundreds of years before Jesus was born were fulfilled by Him and many other prophecies concerning the Jewish people have been fulfilled as well. Prophecies that have been fulfilled are not “dreamed up”, they were inspired by God.

He is the only One who could have given them the words of prophecy that would come true because He knew that it would come true. So, the truth about absolute truth is in the proof. Read it, ask questions, study it and find out the real truth, then look at the way the world is going and ask yourself: “Which truth will carry me to Heaven and which one will condemn me to hell?”

Following your own path and your own truth without Jesus will lead you to a place that you do not want to spend eternity. And, if you think that there is no eternity and that we just stop being alive when we die, you are right. Our body does die but our soul lives on in a glorified body, one that cannot die regardless of the final destination. So, consider this…which truth do you want to follow and live by, yours or the One that is the Truth. Finding out that yours was wrong, regardless of how long you live, is not a good way to begin your life in eternity.

 

Do you need God?


Every day that we live, people question whether or not they need God. In some way or another, whether it is by going to work at a job that we love or hate or in just the process of living through our lives, each one of us asks this question. Do I need God? Another question would be, “Does God need me?”.

The answer to both questions is “Yes!”. We need Him and He needs us. Truly, God doesn’t need us because we can do nothing in the grand scheme of things, or can we? I cannot create a star or a planet. I cannot create another human being from nothing. Yet, God needs us in a way that we don’t really understand but we can understand it up to a point. Does this make sense?

I know that I sound as if I am rambling and that does come with age but we need God because of His grace and mercy that is imparted to us because He loves us. He needs us for fellowship with Him. How can we understand this? Well, those of us who are friendly and have friends can understand how fellowship works. We like to be around our friends and to have fellowship with them.

God wants to enjoy this type of relationship with each of us as well. He is not a god who stands back from his creation and waits for us to really mess things up. He is also not one who does not care what we do or what happens to us. Jesus taught His disciples that “the Father notices when even a sparrow falls, how much more does He care for you. Aren’t you worth more than many sparrows?” (paraphrase of Matthew 10:29-31)

My point is this: God cares for each of us, not just for our fellowship but because we are His creation. We are made in the image and likeness of Him.

Do we need God? Absolutely we do! Many atheists and agnostics say that we don’t but they are trying to get away from the constraints that belief and faith in Him impose on us. They do not want to be responsible for their actions, especially to God! They want to claim that we are all animals and descended from animals and therefore we are not responsible for our actions. We only live by instinct and reason. If that is the way that we, as a species, are supposed to act then why do we care for others? Why do we care for our elders and those who are in need by being physically or mentally challenged? If we are only animals, living by instinct, then why not put them out of their misery and out of our way?

DNA-view-along-axis-courtesy-of-Dr.-R.-Langridge

The reason that we care is because God cares for us. It is in our makeup, our spirit and our DNA. God said in the Old Testament that “I will write my laws upon their hearts.” This was written after the flood, but it applies to all of mankind. We are caring and kind because we know right from wrong, not because we are taught to be that way.

I know that there are “bad people” in the world and I will likely hear from some who say that if we are so good on the inside why doesn’t it show in the world? Because of the many evil things that are happening all over the world and even in our communities, we need to show the love of God to all mankind through our actions and by letting people know that they are His creation. Evil is in the world because Satan is in the world. The apostle John and others like Paul, wrote that we struggle with the “spirit of Antichrist” and this is not a specific person but the spirit of rebellion against God. In the future when the “son of perdition” is revealed, then this spirit will reside in one man but until that time, Satan’s forces of evil are spreading this spirit in all of the places where men are committing acts which we consider evil.

Do we need God? Yes, now more than ever before! Does He need us? Yes, He desires our fellowship, our companionship, our worship because He is worthy of it. He is worthy because of the grace and compassion that He shows us each day. Read and study with prayers asking Him to give you the wisdom to know Him and His Son, Jesus. Without Him, we have no hope. With Him, we have everything!

Do you know much about Christianity?


As a religion it has taken a bad rap from the other religions and from many people all over the world. So, what do you know about the religion of Christianity? Those who claim to be Christians are supposed to be following Christ and in His footsteps be His reflection to the world at large. In essence, we are supposed to be “little Christ’s”, but are we?

How many really live up to that high standard of conduct? Can we do it with our own strength? No, we cannot do it with our own strength. Very few have done this in the past two thousand years, although there have been some. Many use their “take” on this religion in the pulpit or on television to make lots of money off of many people that they don’t know and in the process many have paid the price for their arrogance.

The church, with all of its denominations and divisions, has paid the price of false teachers and doctrines over the past two thousand years. Granted, there have not been many but over those years but the ones who existed in the dark ages did a lot of damage to the church. Many of those who have bee active in the past century have also done a good deal of harm to the church and the way that Christianity is perceived in the world today. Some of them may have believed that their interpretations and their teachings were correct, and yet they were found to be false later.

The church does have hypocrites in it, in the pews and in the pulpits, but by being Christians and leaning on the strength of Christ we can be the people, the church which Jesus always intended for us to be. In the time period that we are living, we should be doing more to tell people about Christ and about Jesus, one person yet two different people according to history. Christ is the Jewish Messiah and many are still waiting for Him to return. Jesus is the Christ that many have rejected and He is sitting at the right hand of God. This is the message that we are to be sharing with the world, even though many don’t want to receive it or even believe its truth.

Many people seem to reject that the Holy Scriptures are true, those which came to the Jewish people through Moses and the Prophets and the New Testament which came by Jesus’ disciples. Yet, all of the books of the Scriptures point in one direction, to one Person and to our salvation through belief in Jesus. All that we have to do is be obedient to them and the wisdom contained in them as well as to realize that we all need salvation through Jesus, because He is the only way, the only perfect sacrifice that was given in order for us to be saved and sanctified. We cannot do this on our own! There is no amount of “works” that a human being can do to be perfect in the light of God because we are not and cannot be holy without Jesus! Any teaching which says otherwise is lying and is false!

No one can be perfect and fulfill and obey every law perfectly, not missing even the smallest detail of the law regardless of Whose law it may be. Whether it is a man-made law or one that comes from God, we cannot claim to be able to perfectly conform to any law because in thought or deed we will break a part of the law and when we do, we have broken the law regardless of offense. Which is why Moses was given the law to begin with. It was for the purpose of showing that humanity cannot attain perfection in obedience to the law because we cannot be and are not perfect. The only One that was able to keep from sinning against the law was Jesus.

He is our example and our Messiah. He was the perfect Lamb of God and is our Savior, sent to redeem the entirety of humanity from eternity past up until He comes again. Give your life and your heart to Jesus and even though your troubles won’t vanish, the strength to make it through them will come from Him! Even though you have to decide each day to die to your own selfish ways and live for Jesus and allow Him to live and show through your life to others, it will get better and you will be stronger for it. Think about it.

The heat of the day and the battle!


We face dark times ahead, not only because of the situation the world is in right now but the day-to-day situations which we face in our personal, daily lives. Every soldier knows that the heat of battle is the most dangerous but also the times when it gets really quiet is one in which you especially have to be on your guard. It is the same in our lives, regardless of the life that you live, whether you are a follower of Christ or not and no matter what type of job that you may work at, there is an element of danger in every sphere and every vocation today.

Driving to work, you are only a few feet from the cars in front or behind you or if you are on a two-lane road the cars meeting you are only two feet from you when they pass you. Anything can happen in a moments notice or without a moments notice on the road, on the job or in your life. One job that I have been thinking about lately is one that I worked at for many years and that was as an emergency medical technician. I worked at this for about ten years first at an ambulance service and then on a rescue unit for a fire department.

These are jobs which are needed but as the news has shown lately, even when you are trying to help someone you can be hit by another vehicle and possibly lose your life too. At a fire department, you may be at a fire, trying to find someone trapped or trying to get into the building to put the fire out so you can see if there is someone in the house. Many things can go wrong while in these situations and it is only by the grace and mercy of God that many of us come out to “fight another day”.

Although, many of my comrades would tell you that they have it covered, no problem, the fact is that the roof can cave in or a gas line can blow or a piece of furniture may fall and trap you, and then if your buddy is not nearby and you are getting low on air, what can you do? My best advice in a situation like this is to never get far from your buddy, just like in scuba diving. You may need him and his strength, you may need his life-giving air until help arrives. There are many different situations and problems which can crop up in one call that you take, that may be the last one you see!

The times that we live in are fragile and the time that we have with our family and friends is fleeting. You will never have those times again, once today is gone, the opportunities and the words that needed to be said are gone and will never present themselves again. Soldiers know this, police know this, firefighters know this, but in our own bravado and our pride we ignore the signs. We all do this, no matter what vocation we may have.

Life is fleeting even if you think you will live to be one hundred, especially compared to eternity. So, what will your answer be when God asks you “What did you do with my Son?” He knows the answer before you do, so think about it now while you have the time to take some action to correct the prideful ways that you have held on to most of your lives.

Yesterday is gone and is in your past, tomorrow isn’t here yet and none of us are guaranteed to wake tomorrow, now, today is what we have, each of us, and if we don’t think about Jesus and our relationship to Him and with Him today, then when? Life gets in the way, situations and our jobs take up our time and our thoughts. Our family can demand much of our attention on a daily basis, but what will happen when your life is over? It can happen in an instant, so while you have today, right now, listen to the small voice in your heart and give Him the attention that He deserves so that He can give you the Life that you deserve. Think about it.