There is a relationship which makes life complete. Without that relationship, there is a void, a vacuum in life. Many people, even those who are well-known, can attest to that void.

For example, H.G. Wells, famous historian and philosopher, said at age 61: “I have no peace. All life is at the end of the tether.”

The poet Byron said, “My days are in yellow leaf, the flowers and fruits of life are gone, the worm and the canker, and the grief are mine alone.”

The literary genius Thoreau said, “Most men live lives of quiet desperation.”

Ralph Barton, one of the top cartoonists of the nations, left this note pinned to his pillow before taking his own life: “I have had few difficulties, many friends, great successes; I have gone from wife to wife, from house to house, visited great countries of the world, but I am fed up with inventing devices to fill up twenty-four hours of the day.”

The Bible says: 

John 10:10 

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Hebrews 13:5 

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Give it some thought.

Gary

I was seventeen, racing with Dad’s pickup.  I wasn’t very good at it because I looked back to see my competition and left the road. I hit a tree which shattered while doing substantial damage to the front of the truck. Father wasn’t happy because he and mom were leaving the next day to visit my sister in California. Needless to say, my wings were clipped and I had no wheels for some time.

I’m seventy and still find it a mistake to look back when I’m sailing through life. You guessed it, the Bible has something to say about that error.

Ecclesiastes 7:10

Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.

Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” You do not move ahead by constantly looking in a rear-view mirror. The past is a rudder to guide you, not an anchor to drag you. We must learn from the past but not live in the past.

Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe.

Give it some thought and don’t look back.

Gary

In a Peanuts cartoon, Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn’t. “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus.

“These five fingers,” says Lucy. “Individually they’re nothing, but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.”

“Which channel do you want?” asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, “Why can’t you guys get organized like that?”

Consider the things that can be accomplished for the kingdom of God when believers cooperate with one another.

1 Peter 3:8 

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

Romans 12:16 

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Everyone I know is thirty-five.
Donna in my writing class is thirty-five,
Melissa, the artist, is thirty-five.
Last night when I lay sleeping
Someone slipped in and
Scribbled lines all over my face,
Stuck bags under my eyes,
Packed cellulite on my thighs.
This morning my mother’s hand
Reached to get my toothbrush;
An unfamiliar face
Stared back at me from the vanity;
Someone else’s stomach
Protruded from beneath my belt.

                                                 Penne J. Laubenthal, Ph.D.

Humorous, but here’s something better than that philosophy:

Acts 13:36
For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:

Psalms 31:15

My times are in Your hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
And from those who persecute me.

If you can’t beat the effects of time, join it with God’s plan for you.

Give it some thought.

Gary

When the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez landed at Vera Cruz, Mexico, in 1519 he was intent on conquest. To assure the devotion of his men, Cortez set fire to his fleet of eleven ships! With no means of retreat, Cortez’s army had only one direction to move, into the Mexican interior. Cortez understood the price of commitment—and he paid it.

I don’t think much of him and the atrocities he committed, but it is interesting how committed some men can be in trying to accomplish a set goal.

Do you have any goals and how committed are you?

Luke 9:62

But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

2 Timothy 1:12

For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

1 Corinthians 15:10

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

Give it some thought.

Gary

I can’t tell you why I was there, but I can say I was sixteen and walking through the forest on a dark and dreary night. My journey was about six miles total. I had a lot of hair then, and it was all standing up without the help of sticky-stuff. I needed to retrieve Dad’s dozer to get me and some other people out of a situation. Scared? Absolutely! No doubt, a result of too many Albert Hitchcock movies.

Being in trouble like that is something I don’t miss. We talk about the good old days but forget that some of those days weren’t so good.  Dad told a church deacon when he heard that I had attended his church, “If you can do something with that boy, I’ll go to your church.” I changed and Dad kept his promise.

Matthew 9:6-8 

But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic— “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

I’m thankful to God that I don’t have to walk through the dark nights because of my foolishness anymore. I can walk without fear. He has given me a Light.

Think about it.

Gary

Five of us fourteen-years-olds were heading to the dance in the next town. It was dark and I told the rowdy crowd that no one would stop for that many guys. What we should do is have three hide in the ditch and two of us would appear on the roadside as hitch hikers. That’s what we did and along came a Corvair which could hold four uncomfortably.  The driver stopped and all of us squeezed in, not heeding his protests. Somehow, one of us was able to ply the door shut. Someone suggested to the driver that if he would press the clutch, he would do the shifting. The old guy followed our directions and we made it to the dance on time. It was a riot for us, but the poor owner didn’t find it humorous.

God certainly was not in the equation at that time in my life. I am a new creation in Christ, and with the new birth those old ways of doing things had to be put aside. 

1 Peter 4:4
wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them into the same excess of riot

Psalm 17:4

Concerning the works of men,
By the word of Your lips,
I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer.

I really try not to use others for my purposes.  It just isn’t right before a Holy God.

Think about it.

Gary