Questions
Matthew 16:26
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
It’s odd how we will strive to achieve things. People will dedicate their lives to efforts such as making more money, getting a promotion, having a better or bigger house, gaining some object they desire, chasing another person they are attracted to, winning at some sport or some type of contest…
The list goes on and on. People will desperately strive to win at most anything but never have the drive to exert the effort to do what it takes to be a winner!
Football, baseball, soccer, basketball, NASCAR, teams, or individuals will be given undivided attention and should a team or person become very good at what they do, shortly thereafter they will have a cult-like following.
What about children’s sports? Ball games, travel ball, uniforms, and so on will garner our efforts as if we owe some great debt to an imagined deity of sporting events. Go almost anywhere in the world and it won’t be long before you hear team chants, songs, or mottos.
The Scripture says to set our affections on things above not on things of this earth (ref. Colossians 3:2)
In Matthew 6:19-21 it says 19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving (a Christian Holiday). A day that Christian people marked for giving thanks to God for the bounty of food He had provided in the harvest. A time of a great feast with family and friends, praising God for His blessings.
I think of all the efforts that will go into preparation for the Thanksgiving dinners around the country, from cleaning and rearranging to food preparation of all sorts, accommodations for family and or friends.
All that special attention and dedication given and many times exhausting efforts, yet so little will we make effort to honestly be Thankful to our Father in Heaven. Without God we would have nothing to be Thankful for! All good things come from God and God only, even to the lost.
We, and I’m speaking of Christians, will exhaust ourselves for things of all sorts, but then somehow attending Church is such a burden for many.
Dedication of time isn’t given a second thought where other activities are concerned, yet giving God more than an hour a week is almost unheard of for the average church-goer. If there is some special happening at church it is often unimaginable that folks find or make time to attend.
A three hour football game or race on the weekend, some special airing of an awaited program can seemingly always be allocated into schedules, but God only gets an hour, if that. How broken we must look to our Lord. He loved us so much he was murdered in the most heinous method of execution at that time.
Can I share something? Every man called by God to Preach or Teach can say this calling is heartbreaking, to gaze out across so many empty seats, to see so few come to the alter after a call to prayer or invitation of salvation breaks their hearts.
If they were to be completely open those Preachers and Teachers would tell you there are times we feel like dusting our sandals of the whole lot and walking away! BUT! We cannot because this calling is all-consuming.
We cannot do anything else because we are compelled by the Holy Spirit to Preach or Teach. It doesn’t matter what our level of discouragement, we know we must stay the course and fight the good fight because deep down our utmost desire is to serve the Lord our God! Why? Because working within our calling brings Joy, and in this context, Joy can best be described as a great sense of accomplishing a just task along with a peace in spirit that nothing else compares to.
People are somehow too busy for God, to hear, to read, to pray, and definitely to serve!
Hear me, Christian, the time grows near! We are looking in the face of the last days, and none of us are guaranteed the day nor the hour. Just today I heard that an old friend had passed, it was his last day! Make sure you are ready to enter into Paradise at all times!