Did you know this body of ours is just rented? Also, did you know that someday soon we will be getting an eviction notice?

Some believe erroneously that this mechanism to get through life belongs to them personally. In my youth, I returned my brother’s pickup truck with the tailpipe wrapped around the muffler. He gave me a lecture on ownership and what this would cost.

Some promote a great future if anyone would adopt their belief system. Unfortunately, in the end many find it to be very expensive now and forever.

The Bible addresses this:

II Peter 2:19 

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.

I Cor. 6:19-20 

 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

There is a massive amount of information on how to use the body He gave you as you journey through life.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Playing church can get boring. You learn the routine; you do the same thing every Sunday. After a while, it’s not very exciting anymore, so mentally you drift off to find more stimulating pursuits. You don’t leave, but it just doesn’t do anything for you anymore. You now explore other interests.

There’s bound to be a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow. There’s bound to be a better life just over that hill.

Grandpa Tell Me About The Good Old Days

Judds

Grandpa, tell me ’bout the good old days
Sometimes it feels like
This world’s gone crazy
Grandpa, take me back to yesterday
When the line between right and wrong
Didn’t seem so hazy

Isaiah 5:20-21

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!

The Bible teaches right from wrong. Give it some thought.

Gary

William Bradford, the governor of the Plymouth Colony of pilgrims, insisted, “Those who believe in the Holy Scriptures are bound to observe its teachings.  Those who do not are bound by its consequences.”

The carpenter, and I use that term lightly, was putting a window in my garage. The hole was cut and I walked up to it and realized the bottom was at eye-level. I told his boss, “I think we have a problem here.” I expect a little more from a carpenter.

Can you imagine an electrician doing work at your house, finishing, and leaving you the bill? After that, every time you flush, you receive an electrical shock. You expect more from an electrician.

So it should be with every Christian:

Galatians 5:25

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

“Those who walk with God, always reach their destination.” ― Henry Ford 

“If I walk with the world, I can’t walk with God.”  Dwight L. Moody

Think about it.

Gary

A whirlwind is a column of air moving rapidly around and around in a cylindrical or funnel shape. On Nov 21, 2017, a whirlwind hit the Mediterranean coast in the province of Antalya, Turkey, injuring 38 people and causing significant damage to agricultural land, cars, and houses.

There are also personal whirlwinds when life is falling apart, answers can’t be found, and faith is being severely tested. Case in point would be the book of Job. His wife finally said, “Why don’t you curse God and die?”

The Scriptures give us an assurance that even in such a severe storm God is still in complete control.

Job 38:1

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

Nahum 1:3

The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

All you can do in a whirlwind is hang on and patiently wait for it to be over. God doesn’t operate like that because He is always in complete control.

Give it some thought.

Gary

“Give Me Just a Little More Time” is the debut single for Chairmen of the Board, released in 1970 through Capitol Records on Holland–Dozier–Holland‘s Invictus Records label. The individual is asking for a little more time to let love take root. I don’t know if it ever did. Sometimes there just isn’t enough time.

Cain, Esau, and many more Bible characters ran out the clock and could have used a little more time. A view of the cemetery headstones will make a statement about so many who have run out of time. There are tests of academics, physical fitness, and games that are timed. Life unfortunately is also timed.

Ephesians 5:16

Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

James 4:14

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Colossians 4:5

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.

 How much time do you think you have left? Remember you are on the clock.

Give it some thought.

Gary

My brother-in-law and I each own a Toyota that is a few years apart in age. Recently, we were standing where we could observe the rear of both cars. I asked him, “How come your tailgate has a little black button next to the latch that mine doesn’t have?” He replied that he didn’t know, so I proceeded to push the button. It made a clicking noise and nothing happened. After that, the back hatch wouldn’t open, even after we tried a few things. To say the least, I was embarrassed, and he wouldn’t let on as to what he thought of my nearsighted curiosity.

After some time, the owner’s manual ended up in my wife’s hands. (She is forever pulling me out of the holes I dig.) She found out that the window in his vehicle’s back hatch could be lifted open. When that button is depressed, it releases the lift-up glass hatch and the liftgate won’t go up. Another save by the feminine part of our marriage.

Application: Don’t touch anything that you don’t understand or shouldn’t be your concern, especially when it is owned by someone else.  Another great asset in my life is the fact that my brother-in-law is very forgiving.

Luke 23:34
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Give it some thought.

Gary

“He Stopped Loving Her Today” is a song recorded by American country music artist George Jones. It has been named in several surveys as the greatest country song of all time. It was released in April 1980.

He stopped loving her today
They placed a wreath upon his door
And soon they’ll carry him away
He stopped loving her today 

When I was a kid, hanging a wreath on a door meant someone in that home had died. Usually, a wake was being observed in that very home. It was a very somber and serious time. People from the community would gather and pay their respects.

It meant the end of that life, no more heartache and regret, no more sorrow and disappointment.

It was not a place you wanted to be, but according to Scripture, it was a better place than being at a party.

Ecclesiastes 7:2-3

It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting:

For that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.

These events and signs cause us to reflect on how short-lived we are and what we should be doing here.

Give it some thought.

Gary