A father was getting onto his young son for telling lies. He told his son, “When I was your age, I never told lies!” The young boy thought about this for a few seconds and asked his dad, “Well then, how old were you when you started?”

How old were you when you started telling lies? Be honest now. The Scriptures teach us that that is a very common sin with humanity and Christians are included.

Colossians 3:9

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices

Acts 5:3

Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

What or who would influence us to lie?

The truth might hurt in the short term, but the consequences of lying can last a lifetime.

Give it some thought.

Gary

We left the logging operation early because of the rain in December. The road was now a glare sheet of ice. My brother had a white-knuckled hold of the steering wheel of our old, rusted jeep. Our cousin was sandwiched between us while I sat by the passenger door. Topping the hill, I knew we were in trouble. The old jeep started doing 360s. When it hit the ditch, the door opened, and I flew out, landing on my back in that trench, flowing with cold water. That vehicle was coming over onto me when the back bumper caught the bank and righted it. Finally, I stood up, soaked and angry, glaring at the jeep which had now stopped at the bottom of the hill.

Another memory prompting the question: Why am I still here? God knows the answer and I don’t, but I owe Him something. I’ll try, as lacking as I am, to pay it back. I’ve been given a lot more life than many.

Psalm 103:4 -5

who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

If you’re going to take a trip through life, make sure God’s in control and not you.

Give it some thought.

Gary

“Like a Rock” is a song written by American singer-songwriter Bob Seger. The single peaked at number one on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks in 1986.

This song’s greatest exposure was in Chevrolet truck television advertisements from 1991 until 2004 which helped make the company very competitive.

The theme of the song was that youth was wonderful. The young man was on top of the world without worries. His body was as solid as a rock. Then twenty years of time changed it all.

 I bought a Chevrolet S-10 in 1998 and it was a rock that didn’t last. The rust bugs came with it from the factory. I took it to a body shop and the owner there told me it was a waste of time and money to paint it. Time took it from a beauty to a disappointment.

The Bible mentions this phenomenon:

Psalm 39:4 

“O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! 

Psalm 78:39 

He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again. 

Psalm 144:4 

Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

Give it some thought, Rock.

Gary

The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. They sang a song in 1962 named “The Reverend Mr. Black.” It was about a circuit preacher in the cowboy days that lived what he preached. The preacher’s son took the same road as his dad, the Reverend Mr. Black.

You got to walk that lonesome valley. You got to walk it by yourself
Oh nobody else can walk it for you. You got to walk it by yourself…

The Bible mentions valleys.

Psalm 23:4

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

 I look forward to the day when there will be no more valleys.

Luke 3:5

Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.

Give it some thought.

Gary

My brother’s eleven years older than I am and has always had my back. Sometimes someone would tell him, “Your fool brother is out there drunk.” Sometimes he’d come for me and sometimes he wouldn’t. He should have thrown me against a wall and screamed in my face, but he never did.

He always showed up just in time when I found myself jackknifed in a hill, my truck loaded with logs bound for Canada or broken down somewhere on that narrow, dangerous wood’s road. A letter from Viet Nam or a note from home while I was at Bible college always contained money.

He’s eighty-one now with a body that won’t cooperate. Every couple of weeks, he calls to see if I’m ok. My question to you is what can you do with someone like that?

Romans 12:10 

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

He sure did that with me. Can I do that for someone else?

Think about it.

Gary

The expression “diamond in the rough” refers to a person who has much potential, but it has not yet been developed. Some folks with great potential never develop, while others do.

The Bible addresses this for the believer. We should go from the milk stage to the steak stage.

Hebrews 5:12-13

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.

1 Corinthians 13:11

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

Am I writing to mature audiences?

Give it some thought.

Gary

An interesting map is on display in the British Museum in London. It’s an old mariner’s chart, drawn in 1525, outlining the North American coastline and adjacent waters. The cartographer made some intriguing notations on areas of the map that represented regions not yet explored. He wrote: “Here be giants,” “Here be fiery scorpions,” and “Here be dragons.” Eventually, the map came into the possession of Sir John Franklin, a British explorer in the early 1800s. Scratching out the fearful inscriptions, he wrote these words across the map: “HERE IS GOD.”

Source unknown

So many images are coming from outer space because of advances in space missions and ever-improving technology. However, we’re hearing the same old lies. God is absent. Instead, they should look at this awe-inspiring creation and proclaim, “God.”

Psalm 33:6 

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host.

Hebrews 1:10 

And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of Your hands;

What do you think when you look up on a clear night and see all the stars?

Give it some thought.

Gary