The sixth grader was asked by the teacher to spell Mississippi. His reply was, “Do you want the river or the state?” Now this was a young man who still had a lot to learn.

To get by in this world, there is a plethora of information that needs to be digested and applied.

Of course, you realize I’m heading to the Word of God with this one.

Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

Lack of knowledge can be an embarrassment down the road. Make sure you get it right.

I called out to my wife one time about the spelling of a word. I asked, “How do you spell it?” She replied, “I-t.”

Think about “it.

Gary

“Flowers on the Wall” was a song sung by the Statler Brothers. It was released in 1966. Here is one stanza for the record.

Counting flowers on the wall
That don’t bother me at all
Playing solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one
Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo
Now don’t tell me I’ve nothing to do.

If you play a legal game of solitaire, without cheating, you might win thirty percent of the time. However, if you play with a deck of fifty-one, you can never win.

Playing against such odds is just plain ridiculous. It is especially insane if there is a card missing.

Many are playing the game of life with the link to heaven missing. The missing part is a relationship with God, based solely on the finished work of Christ. The game can never be won apart from Christ. Don’t spend eternity as a loser.

1 Timothy 1:15

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

Think about it.

Gary

It was one of those old country and western songs. He didn’t want her anymore, and with that, she figured he no longer should be breathing Ohio air. She put a knife into his chest as in her arms he pressed. His last words were, “My love, don’t you murder me. I’m not prepared for eternity.”

Those are not the last words you want to be saying even if you’re not in your lover’s arms. Eternity is something you really need to consider intently and be fully prepared for. There is a book written about that very subject, and you shouldn’t be relying on someone interpreting it for you.

There is a Lover who will not only get us through the now, but has secured a place for us throughout eternity.

1 John 4:9-10 

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins

Now be careful whom you hug.

Give it some thought.

Gary

I just read an article concerning the eleven things that will never change in life, (no matter how hard you try). It was written by Marian Wright Edelman. Edelman was the first African American woman admitted to The Mississippi Bar in 1964.

Here are the things you can’t change:

1. You’re accountable to someone.
2. You’re not going to live forever.
3. You can’t please everyone.
4. You’ll never catch up to the Joneses.
5. Holding that grudge is never going to have the effect you’re hoping for.
6. Similarly, you can’t control what someone else thinks.
7. Yesterday is over. You can’t get it back.
8. The world… nope, you can’t change it.
9. Where you came from.
10. Nothing is ever really private anymore.
11. You can’t get back what you’ve lost.

These eleven statements are about as close to the truth as is possible under the present circumstances.

However, the Bible does discuss the most important change that is possible in life.

2 Corinthians 5:17 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Now, there is a change that you can live with for eternity.

Think about it.

Yea Gary

It was a hot summer morning in June. I was probably ten or eleven. My cousin and I were sneaking a cigarette in my room while everyone else was downstairs. The smoke was going through the screen of my window. My young mind comforted me that this was a perfect plan and nothing could go wrong.

The scream made my hair stand up as my sister entered the house shouting at the top of her lungs, “Momma, the house is on fire.” We were caught. She saw the smoke exiting the window.

When the two and a half tribes were separating themselves from the rest of Israel by the Jordon River, Moses gave a warning: You had better hold up your obligation to the nation.

Numbers 32:23

“But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out. 

My sin found me out that day with embarrassing consequences. How about you? Are you keeping this concept in mind?

Think about it.

Gary

Ecclesiastes 9:11

I returned and saw under the sun that—

The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and chance happen to them all.

The smartest man in the world was contemplating time and chance. I guess a better name for him at that time would be, “Lucky”. My friend left a dog to me and his name was Lucky. He was run over and killed by a truck. I almost hate to say it, but I was pleased that Lucky wasn’t lucky.

Solomon was leaving God out of the equation which always leads to the wrong answer. The children of Israel had the same problem in Jeremiah’s day.

Jeremiah 2:6

Neither did they say, ‘Where is the Lord,
Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
Who led us through the wilderness,
Through a land of deserts and pits,
Through a land of drought and the shadow of death,
Through a land that no one crossed
And where no one dwelt?’

How is it with you? Time and chance? Luck of the draw? Or maybe Jupiter aligned with Mars? Or does God play an active role in your life including the distant past?

Give it some thought, Lucky.

Gary

She was moderately attractive, but a little makeup might have improved the situation some. A higher-than-average IQ was an asset, but her concern was that men didn’t want someone smarter than they were.  Her desire was to stay away from the water holes where eligible bachelors might be located.  Marriage was always on her mind, but the years erased all possibilities.

Here lie the bones of Nancy Jones:

For her, life held no terrors.

She lived an old maid, she died an old maid:

No hits, no runs, no errors.

Seek is a verb found many times in the Bible. It means attempt or desire to obtain or achieve (something). Whatever the desire, it won’t come your way. You must make a move.

1 Peter 3:11

Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it.

Colossians 3:1

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.

Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Nothing wrong with being single and it is sometimes warranted. However, if you are Nancy Jones, it was not for you.

Think of it.

Gary