We can’t wait to start school, yet we just turned four. We can’t wait to be a teenager, yet we just turned twelve. We can’t wait to graduate from high school, yet we just started our junior year. We can’t wait to finish college, get a job, get married, have the kids grown, retire, and what? Die!

The Bible addresses this phenomenon and the best way to deal with it:

Psalm 27:14

Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!

To get the most out of this very short life, trust God to deal you out one divine day at a time.

There is one appointment about which most people never say, “I can’t wait.”

Hebrews 9:27

And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

Don’t wait. Give it some thought.

Gary

I was a teenager out drinking and just playing the fool. My brother showed up and said, “It’s time to go home.”  No reprimand, no lecture and no anger- that’s what he had to do that night: rescue his brother.

He is eighty years old now and calls often. I guess he is still concerned for his brother and some mess he might find him in. If he was in a mess, he’d just take him home. Time didn’t change his relationship with that brother and that brother was high maintenance.

I stand here today because of so many like him who never gave up on me. I wish I could name them all and tell the world, but they would be embarrassed. But those who fit in this category and are reading this, “Thank you.”

Proverbs 17:17

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.

With a little help from those who love me, I think I can make it to the finish line.

Give it some thought.

Gary

New employee: “I put these documents in the fax machine, but they didn’t come back out.”

Old employee: “That’s a paper shredder.”

New employee: “Oh! Can you set it to reverse? Those papers are important.”

A learning curve, a lack of training and confusion about the world around you can lead to some monumental mistakes that can’t be corrected. The writer to Hebrews addressed such a group of individuals:

Hebrews 5:12

For though by this time, you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

Never put people into a position they aren’t prepared for. This is especially true in handling the Word of God.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Down in a steak house in Texas a woman was found standing and looking at the two signs on restroom doors. A man exited the restroom and the woman said, “Oh, I’m so glad you’re here; I was afraid to enter. I didn’t know if I was a steer or a heifer.”

God made it much simpler in Genesis chapter one. God created and named them male and female. One of the many reasons He did that is so we would never get mixed up reading the restroom signs.

How are you with reading signs? They weren’t so good at it in Jesus’ day.

Matthew 16:3

And in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.

Give the Scriptures a good read, so in the future, you won’t be confused by the signs.

Give it some thought.

Gary

We have a ministry to the nursing home, and it is a real blessing for us. Some residents are younger than we are which makes me try to keep the keypad number memorized. I do that just in case one of the CNA’s says, “No, Mr. Gardner, this is your home now.”  I have my escape preplanned.

The future is uncertain, but some decisions can be made by carefully observing those around us and those who have gone before. There are certain ruts in our world that can’t be avoided, and when in one, don’t be disappointed, but make the best of it.

Psalm 46:1

“God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.”

Yes, earthquakes come and mountains do crumble into the sea eventually. Don’t live in denial, but be prepared.

Think about it.

Gary

I’m just reflecting on yesterday’s post on bacon and avocado. I discovered that like politics there are many opinions on the subject. I’ve heard from some who attend bacon anonymous. They might attend those meetings and claim they are bacon free, but my post led them to confess. They are not what they testify to be at the meetings. They profess to be avocado eaters, but the smell of bacon on their clothes tells a different story.

My advice is don’t attend those meetings unless you can stand and state that you have been bacon-free for over a year. I’m not saying give up like I did, but like the Apostle Paul, keep at it even though you have a way to go.

Philippians 3:12

 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

Some of you guilty-bacon-fanatics will someday experience victory, so don’t quit.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Avocado is rich in healthy mono-unsaturated fatty acids. Avocado helps lower your levels of LDL, “bad” cholesterol. The American Heart Association approves of one a day. Bacon pieces are crispy cholesterol bombs. They are high in unhealthy saturated fat and should be treated as an occasional indulgence, not a daily staple.

I love bacon and would only eat an avocado if a gun was pressed to my temple with a larger caliber than a 22. Don’t be offended, but give me a shorter lifespan during which I can exclude avocado and include more bacon.

What’s the point? It is the Apostle Paul struggling with the thing that plagues every Christian who is honest with himself:

Romans 7:19

For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.

I know; I know. He’s not talking about bacon because as a Pharisee he would never have tasted bacon. However, if he had, it would have included a battle with bacon.

The apostle is discussing the difficult time that everyone of us has with doing the right thing.

How about you? Still struggling between avocado or bacon?

Give it some thought.

Gary