Time

“Time, why you punish me?” That’s the beginning line to an old song by Hootie and the Blowfish (some people will hate me for saying "old song", but it’s been 15 years people…that’s broaching oldie). Even though it’s been 15 years (ouch again), I can still identify with that line…though probably not in the way it was intended. Sometimes, it feels as though time is flying at you and just punishing you. I remember hearing a story told by a comedian about how a man tried tying himself to a post on a seashore once to prove he was fit enough to withstand the force of the wind…the comedian calmly pointed out that it wasn’t the force of the wind that got you, it was what the winds blew at you. His words were “When you get hit by a Volvo, it doesn’t really matter how many sit-ups you did that morning.” Clever and true.

Time is like that as well. It sweeps in and through, going seemingly faster as you age, and then you think it’s punishing you, but it’s not time, it’s the things that time blows at you…the tragedies, the changes, the harsh realities, the seasons of life that pass and the seasons that never seem to end. It is like this for EVERY person on the planet…we are not alone.

It’s at times like these that I am most comforted to be a follower of Christ. Jesus tells me in John 15:5 that He is the vine and we are the branches and promises help for us as we remain in Him and He remains in us. He supports us from without protecting us from what comes…and then bolsters us from the inside helping us to withstand tremendous collision. He tells us in 1 Corinthians that He controls the things He lets get to us and provides for help even in the toughest of situations. In Romans 10, Paul writes that “all things work to the good of those who love and serve the Lord”, showing us that even the most seemingly cruel situations, God controls and turns them to good in our lives and the lives of others as we continue to love and serve Him.

It’s times like these, when I read the word and see the massive amounts of gigantic debris that time has thrown at those who have followed the Lord throughout the ages that I understand one truth for sure…

God is bigger than time, and time, at times, may “punish me”, but God will sustain me and bless me, if I refuse to be the servant of time, and remain the servant of Christ.

Gaps and holes

We talked a few weeks ago about why it's important to study all of God's Word...to read it all for yourself.

One of the primary reasons we talked about this danger was because failing to do so can leave "gaps" and "holes" in your understanding of God's Word.  The natural tendency when you don't have information is to try to fill those "gaps" and "holes" with your own logic or wishes or from your sense of justice or mercy...and most of the time, our personal thoughts are not God's thoughts.

I ran across this verse that made me think about this in my reading today...in Jude 1

¹⁸ They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.”
¹⁹ These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

What the Bible points out here is the dangers of following merely your own natural instincts.  It's hard to remember that sin corrupts even our best logic and helps us completely rationalize the most illogical thing we can do...not following God...that's what sin did to us.  It made it seem like the "smart" and "logical" thing to do was something other than God's plan.  That's why the Word is so important and why we should strive to know it as well as we can.  Our earthly intelligence...at its best, will always have a part of it that will try to pull us away from God, because, through sin, it is flawed.  We need God...we need His Word. 

So take advantage of the gift that God gave you....and get rid of the "gaps" and "holes".