They are called the ghost trains and can be found at the north end of Chamberlain Lake which is part of the Allagash watershed.  The two 100-ton steam engine locomotives are the most visible reminders of the long abandoned 13-mile railway in the middle of the North Maine Woods.

Many times I visited that spot and theorized on what life must have been like at that time. People who once lived, worked, strived, suffered, loved, grew old and died at one time walked this land.

The same thoughts plague my mind in surveying an old cemetery.  My five-year-old grandson stood in the graveyard where most of my ancestors and extended family are buried. I monitored his expression as he read from tombstone to tombstone: Gardner, Gardner, Gardner…  I said to him, “Yes, Josh, this is where we all go.” Seems like that was the first time the reality of life and death confronted him.

The apostle Paul addressed a serious misconception about death to the Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 15:32

If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

Life is not just for the flesh and its pleasures but the whole of now and eternity. God gave us a book about all of that and we should acquaint ourselves with it.

Give it some thought.

Gary

The doctor told me, before the anesthesia wore off from my cardiac catheterization, that I needed a triple bi-pass. I thought he had me mixed up with someone else because only fifty-nine years ago I was five. No, it was me with a clogged heart.

My physician said if I listened to him I would get twenty years after the operation, and if I didn’t do what I was told, only five.  My decision was to split that in half and go with twelve.

The Bible has a lot to say about the heart.

Psalm 73:26

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Someday this organ of mine is going to let me down, but at that exact moment God is going to pick me up and we’re going to enjoy eternity together.

How about you?

Give it some thought.

Gary

Jeremiah is best known as the weeping prophet. He ministered to Judah when God brought the wrath of Babylon down on Israel.  The people refused to heed his warnings, called him a traitor and embraced the false prophets and deceiving leaders of his day.

Jeremiah 10:23

O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself;
It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.

We’re in a very similar situation today. Our leaders promise a bright and glorious future if we would only support them. The problem is that God is in charge of our future not them.  They give God a little lip service to deceive the gullible.

Truth is Jeremiah’s road was a rough one, running against the wind. To take the Word of God seriously is a difficult course; however, keeping one’s eye on eternity and not the present makes it possible.

Jeremiah has been doing fine for the last 2500 years. Some day we will meet him and he’ll tell us service to God was well-worth the trouble especially in difficult times.

Think about it.

Gary

My kindergarten teacher told me if I didn’t eat my mashed potatoes I would not be going out for recess. I kept an eye on her, and when her attention was somewhere else, I stuffed the mashed potatoes into my pocket.

It’s amazing how no one has to teach us to be rebellious. Rebellion comes naturally for all of us. We chafe under rules and authority. Sometimes it’s subtle and sometimes it’s quite blatant.

On the playground I scraped those potatoes out of my pocket. I won this one, but what a gooey price I paid. I could have eaten them and avoided the cost, but in my heart she wasn’t going to win.

The Bible has a lot to say about rebellion.

1 Samuel 15:23

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”

Don’t rebel against God. It will not be worth the price you pay.

Give it some thought.

Gary

There was a man who worked in the construction of a prison and years later found himself a prisoner in that institution.  He became a prisoner in the prison he helped to build.

In a song by the Eagles a stanza states, “”We are all just prisoners here of our own device.” The last stanza warns, “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”

Secular songs with very spiritual meanings are often quoted by me.

Is the life we are building and living becoming a prison?

Jesus has the answer to all of these incarcerations.

John 8:36

Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

Paul speaks of the imprisonment of trying to keep the law to be justified.

Romans 3:28

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

If you know Christ, you know the liberty He brought to us through His shed blood.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Every time I consider the wreck of the Titanic it makes me feel sad: first, because of the 1500 people that died unnecessarily in that cold north Atlantic water; secondly, because the owners were more concerned about the speed record than the safety of the ship; thirdly, there were only lifeboats for one-third of the passengers and many boats that did escape were not filled to their limit; lastly, the owners and passengers believed the ship to be unsinkable. The only thing it ever did was sink.

Looking back over one hundred years we can see it all clearly. However, at the time they were deceived into thinking they were safe.

We are all sailing through life at tremendous speed, and for most they are totally unconcerned. The question is what happens when it all stops?

Bad information and unjustified opinions given to us in life can lead to tragedy.

Paul gave it to us straight.

Galatians 1:4

who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

Make a spiritual examination of that vessel you’re going to sail through life on.

Give it some thought.

Gary

I found this profound quote, “Be careful whom you start dating. A lot of people aren’t looking for love. They’re looking for help.”

“Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places” is a song sung by Johnny Lee.  The road of life is littered with the wrecks of those looking for love when they should have been focusing on the dangerous highway before them.

There is a route that holds real love and it’s not Route 66. We discover that GPS information in Holy Writ.

1 Corinthians 2:9

But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Fire up your engines and let us run this course to the finish.

Give it some thought.

Gary