Thought for Today
1 Samuel 3:4 Then the LORD called, "Samuel! Samuel!" and he said, "Here I am!"
Luke 9:59 To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
Luke 12:20 But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'
I suspect the 3 most dangerous words in the English language are either “Just one more,” or “I’ll start tomorrow.” Samuel’s life was determined by his answer when God called. Had Samuel responded to God’s call with “I’ll start tomorrow,” would he have remembered his promise that next day? Would he have fulfilled that promise? How might his procrastination have affected the future choice of David from among Jesse’s sons?
Jesus said, "Matthew 7:13 Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” I believe that the Christian life is led on the street that leads to that narrow gate. And that street must often cross the avenues of “Just one more” and “I’ll start tomorrow.” Those avenues seem to be easy, wide, tree-lined and to have sculptured esplanades.
Often the measures and metrics of our societies make those avenues look even more tempting. Most of us in the ‘western world’ live in materialistic and hedonistic societies. We measure success in life in terms of material wealth. The rich and famous live in mansions. Their lifestyles are glamorized in magazines and on television. Repeatedly, we are encouraged to emulate them. And, it is tempting to do so.
Jesus warned us, “Mark 10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." Of course, Jesus did not say it is impossible for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. Thankfully, none of us are tasked with determining who will be able to enter into the kingdom of God.
How do we measure our lives? How do we, as Christians, determine our success? The measures and metrics of society would look to estate values, wealth accumulation, expensive cars. The rich and famous, by society’s metrics, are seen at the ‘right’ places, dine in the ‘right’ restaurants, wear the ‘right’ clothes. As I watch television and read newspaper headlines, I suspect they frequently must say to themselves, “Just one more,” and if they think about reforming their lifestyles, they just say, “I’ll start tomorrow.”
Jesus warned them . . . and us, "Matthew 6:19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
I’m not sure what set my mind off on this track this morning. I did not hear God’s voice crying in the night. I have not been told by my doctor that I need to reform my diet and lose weight . . .yet.
Maybe it’s all the pictures we have seen on the news of the devastation in Ukraine and Gaza. Greta and I talk often about how difficult it would be to have to start over and rebuild our lives from scratch. Certainly, some of my thoughts are reflective of all the tape recordings playing in my mind, all of the lectures from my parents about keeping on “the straight and narrow.”
Some of it is my continued pondering on my own call and my email conversations with the friend I mentioned yesterday. When I woke this morning, the hymn “Here I Am. Lord” was running through my mind. The first time I remember hearing that hymn we were sitting with our Bible Study class in worship. One couple sitting with us greatly influenced my own recognition of my calling. As we sang that hymn, when we came to the refrain, they raised their hands as they sang, “Here I am, Lord, is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night.”
Every time I am tempted to say, “Just one more,” or “I’ll start tomorrow,” I’ll try to remember that Jesus warned, “'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'” God’s call is immediate; God’s call is right now. The street of our Christian life is crossing those easy, broad avenues. Don’t turn away from the narrow road leading to the narrow gate. Stay on that straight and narrow!
Stay safe, head for the right gate, trust God,
Pastor Ray