They say such nice things about people at their funerals that it makes me sad to realize that I’m going to miss mine by just a few days.
~ Garrison Keillor

Garrison knew humor, but there was a thread of truth in his comic side. When we’re alive, people remember the situations we messed up on. However, at the funeral they only want to capitalize on the bright side.

God didn’t do that. Here’s what He had to say about some kings of Israel:

1 Kings 16:25

Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who were before him.

1 Kings 21:25

There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited.

I’m not concerned about what the preacher will say about my demise, but what God has to say.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Lady Astor to Winston Churchill “If you were my husband, I’d put poison in your coffee.”
To which Winston Churchill replied “Madam, if I were your husband, I would drink it.”

Winston had a real sense of dry humor and alcohol seemed to fan it. The tongue can be a sharp instrument for evil or for good. It depends on the condition of the deliverer.

Ephesians 4:29 

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 

Proverbs 18:21 

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Give it some thought the next time you blurt out something.

Gary

We are all carrying something we wish would go away. There are things that stick to us like walking through a field of burdocks that cling to our clothing.

The regrets of life:

• I should have spent more time with family.
• I should have dumped that friendship.
• I should have secured that friendship.
• I should have listened to my doctor.
• I should have spoken up at the time.
• I should not have sweated the small stuff.

You can add to the list.

Instead of the all-too-familiar notion of living a life with no regrets, what if we embraced them? What if we used the past as a guide for better living?

Does the Bible address that? Glad you asked.

Philippians 3:13-14

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Aren’t you glad that first date didn’t amount to anything?

Give it some thought.

Gary

From Mongolian folklore comes this helpful little fable of the boastful frog.

   Two geese were about to start southward on their annual autumn migration, when they were entreated by a frog to take him with them. On the geese expressing their willingness to do so if a means of conveyance could be devised, the frog produced a long stalk of grass, got the two geese to take it one by each end, while he clung to it by his mouth in the middle. In this manner the three were making their journey when they were noticed from below by some men.

   The men loudly expressed their admiration for the device and wondered who had been clever enough to discover it. Whereupon the vainglorious frog opened his mouth to say, “It was I,” lost his hold, fell to the earth, and was dashed to pieces.

   Moral: When you have a good thing going, keep your mouth shut!

Proverbs 27:2

Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth;
an outsider, and not your own lips.

Watch your mouth and give it some thought.

Gary

“All that glitters is not gold” is an aphorism stating that not everything that looks precious or true turns out to be so. William Shakespeare coined the phrase sometime around the 12th century. Billy nailed that one, but the Bible mentions the principle thousands of years before Billy’s mother had birth pains because of his arrival.

Proverbs 8:19

My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver.

 Psalm 119:127

Therefore, I love Your commandments above gold, above fine gold.

Acts 3:6

But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

Does it glitter? Is it gold or is it fool’s gold?

Give it some thought.

Gary

Genesis 28:15 

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

God didn’t have much to work with in Jacob. He would be one a teacher would not want in her classroom. You wouldn’t want him for a neighbor. An employer would refuse his application for employment. However, God was willing to take him on. The Lord made promises to this boy and through him created a nation still in existence today.

If God could do that with old Jacob, He can still do that today with you and me. His promises are as valid today as they were then.

2 Corinthians 7:1 

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

Hebrews 10:23 

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Give it some thought.

Gary

“Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” is a song written and recorded by American singer Johnny Cash. It was released in December 1958. It was the story of young Billy who put his guns on and went to town. He thought he looked the part of a gun slinger. He tasted liquor for the first time. The only thing the guns hanging at his side and booze in his stomach did was get him killed.

There are a lot of individuals going through life believing they are looking good but refusing to believe that one day they will be up against God. The Lord had something to say about such a fool.

Luke 12:20

But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

Think you can take God on? You’ll be the loser.

Give it some thought.

Gary