How gracious is our God....and how merciful and longsuffering! I cannot at times but look back at 75 years....and wonder what the angels think about such mercy and forgiveness to someone as I! The blessings have just continuously overflowed....from a wonderful wife....to a wonderful son and his family.....to 37 years in one job....to a home....of which I am sitting on the patio right now....in 53 degree weather with a small fire pit....six inches in diameter....throwing a warm airy blanket over me.
I thank God that I was given every opportunity in the world. I thank Him that I was not given some great gift....athletic or musical....where today I would be in some hall of fame....or asked for autographs when I am in a restaurant....for I would not have handled that well. I thank Him that I was not given too much or too little.What if I had not been born in the United States? No one would have been telling me of Jesus Christ at work....unless I was born in some impoverished country like the Philippines. I know and love a family that lives there. The one daughter FaceTimes with my brother-in-law every day. A hundred dollars is a lot of money to them....more than just a lot of money. They have devotions every morning in the sweltering tropical climate.
There is a former professional baseball player who we know....whose name most everyone reading this would know....and he was given a $15,000 signing bonus at the time! It was a different country than it is today. My uncle....a Catholic priest....would take me to ball games in my youth....oh the sound of that ball hitting the bat....and a scorecard that I could record everything....and a hot dog....maybe two....and a Coke. They were heroes of a sort back then....but the sports.....all of them....are filled with idols today.
We have no leaders to speak of anymore. The few that survived up until about a decade ago have either died or slinkered down to being mere footstools to a different American way of life....a way of life that grabs....and protects what it has grabbed....living in fear that they may have to join the rest of us.
The pure exhilaration back in the early 80s of being born again is still in my memory....with Christian bookstores everywhere....and Billy Graham crusades on television throughout the year....and a humble man like Ronald Reagan in the White House!
That is all....gone with the wind. There is no way that you could understand that unless you were there....and even that is no guarantee. The entire 19th century has been one of technological progress. It turned out to be nothing but suicide. God gave us a hint of this with the Tower of Babel. He knew where man would go....and He slowed it down so that the Son of Man would come....and gather up a motley crew....like Phil Robertson....(and me)....and turn him into the Phil Robertson that just went to his real home.
Well Jesus was taken up into the clouds that day on the Mount of Olives....and He will soon return in the same way....and every eye will see Him. Even billionaires will try to hide in the rocks. His glory will be revealed....to everyone!
I don't deserve to know Him! I didn't deserve to live past those many times in my youth when I tempted fate. Off to my right on this patio is a hibiscus plant (tree) that I purchased just the other day. Are you familiar with the beautiful bloom of that flower? It lasts often for only one day....and then it closes up....and drops off! There are two blooms on the plant right now....there were about six two days ago....and there may be six a week from today.
We are as those blooms....the only difference is that God takes of those blooms those who for some reason He has chosen....the 'one day' of the hibiscus is as the seventy years of the man....and we simply close up and drop off also....but He whose promises are true will resurrect our bloom....without imperfections.....never to close up and drop off again!
Are you one of those blooms! Do you want to be one of those blooms that God will preserve? Do you know that it may be a day or it may be a decade but you will eventually close up and drop off? Only you are not a plant that is and then is no more....for you have an eternal soul. Have you no concern what will happen to that soul? Ignoring the issue won't help. God did not leave us in the dark. He gave us His written word....and He gave us His Spirit. You are but one....humble and penitent cry away....from having your eyes opened! If it can happen to me....it can happen to you.
