She was moderately attractive, but a little makeup might have improved the situation some. A higher-than-average IQ was an asset, but her concern was that men didn’t want someone smarter than they were.  Her desire was to stay away from the water holes where eligible bachelors might be located.  Marriage was always on her mind, but the years erased all possibilities.

Here lie the bones of Nancy Jones:

For her, life held no terrors.

She lived an old maid, she died an old maid:

No hits, no runs, no errors.

Seek is a verb found many times in the Bible. It means attempt or desire to obtain or achieve (something). Whatever the desire, it won’t come your way. You must make a move.

1 Peter 3:11

Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it.

Colossians 3:1

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.

Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Nothing wrong with being single and it is sometimes warranted. However, if you are Nancy Jones, it was not for you.

Think of it.

Gary

Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves begin to die?
Like me, he’s lost the will to live
I’m so lonesome, I could cry

The stanza comes from “I’M SO LONESOME I COULD CRY” (1949) by Hank Williams. I put this song in my head when I was very young. Every time some memory of past sadness comes back, this song is attached to it. There is something about the Irish part of me that enjoys being tormented.

I’m so grateful that God brought His Word into my life to combat the strong emotions of the past. There is coming a day when all tears will be wiped away.

Isaiah 25:8

 He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
 and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
  for the Lord has spoken.

We’ve been wiped many times throughout life, but I look forward to the final wiping that gives us eternity without these tear-jerking songs.

Think about it.

Gary

Did you know that the Andromeda Galaxy is eventually going to collide with the Milky Way? The Milky Way is the galaxy in which je vie (I live).

How do we know this? Um, it’s obvious: Humans know everything. I mean, really? If we know about things that are 2.5 million light years away, there can’t be anything we don’t know…right?

This will happen in four billion years. This is the kind of stuff that will keep you up at night. Don’t worry. Captain Kirk will be flying through space in the Enterprise making a way for us. Lieutenant Nyota Uhura will be translating the different languages from various planets.

How about a little reality?  There is an event that is going to take place a lot sooner than four billion years.

2 Peter 3:13

Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Now I plan on still being alive in four billion years but not in this dilapidated vessel, nor on this trashed planet. God’s going to give me a new body to walk through eternity. All of this is because of the finished work of Christ on Calvary.

Think about it.

Gary

Is it possible that you could make the following statements?

“Listen to me carefully. I don’t have all the answers to life’s myriad of questions. My personal belief is that I’m undeserving of all that I was able to enjoy in life. My IQ certainly didn’t match what I’ve, by the grace of God, been able to accomplish. If my friends really knew me, they would terminate the friendship.”

The reason for my question is that once there was a king who wrote something like that:

Psalm 131:1

 Lord, my heart is not haughty,
Nor my eyes lofty.
Neither do I concern myself with great matters,
Nor with things too profound for me.

God said David was a man after His own heart. I believe statements like the aforementioned give us a clue as to why God said that.

Maybe with the help of the Holy Spirit we could also bring ourselves to such a place.

Give it some thought.

Gary

In March 1992 Newsweek magazine mentioned a letter from
the Greenville County, S.C., Dept. of Social Services.
The letter was written to a dead person. It read:

“Your food stamps will be stopped effective immediately,
because we received notice that you passed away.
May God bless you.
You may re-apply if there is a change in your circumstances.”

Two dead men had a conversation in Luke 16:

Luke 16:30-31

And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”

No. the food stamps were stopped because the dead can’t come back. This is a one-shot deal, so make sure you’re right with God before your food stamps are shut off forever.

Think about it.

Gary

When I was old enough to get my hunting license, Dad took me for a hunting hike. We would leave the pick up beside a logging road and walk through the woods for hours. I would be behind him with a rifle; now that is a scary thought. Just about the time I believed us to be close to Alaska, we’d step out into a logging road and there would be the truck. Totally confused, I’d make believe I knew exactly where we were.

Now I know the moss grows on the north side of the tree, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and the rivers flow down to the sea. However, when I enter the woods and can no longer see the truck, I’m lost. The sense of direction my father and brother were born with was totally lacking in me.

What a blessing to know the Bible can take us from being lost, to arriving to our eternal home safely. Just like I trusted my father’s guidance, I trust the Word of God.

Isaiah 26:3-4

You keep him in perfect peace
    whose mind is stayed on you,
    because he trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
    for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

Our heavenly Father is taking us for a long walk through this life. All we have to do is follow and trust. One of these days, we’ll step out into glory.

Think about it.

Gary

He has been dead now for a long time, but he still speaks.  This is the doctor who can encourage us with the proper diet.

He was great on texts, the doctor was. When he had a point to prove, he’d just go through the Bible and drive all the texts ahead of him like a flock of sheep; and then, if there was a text that seemed against him, why, he’d come out with his Greek and Hebrew and kind of chase it around a spell, just as you see a fellow chase a contrary bell-weather, and make him jump the fence after the rest. I tell you, there wasn’t no text in the Bible that could stand against the doctor when his blood was up.

   Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896)

This is exactly what the Scriptures encourage us to do:

Romans 15:4 

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Of all the time-wasting endeavors, the study of the Scriptures will not fit into that category. Throughout eternity, you will be thankful for the investment in the pursuit of truth.

Give it some thought.

Gary