Wisdom 13:1-9
Naturally stupid are all men who have not known God
and who, from the good things that are seen, have not been able to discover Him-who-is,
or, by studying the works, have failed to recognise the Artificer.
Fire however, or wind, or the swift air,
the sphere of the stars, impetuous water, heaven’s lamps,
are what they have held to be the gods who govern the world.
If, charmed by their beauty, they have taken things for gods,
let them know how much the Lord of these excels them,
since the very Author of beauty has created them.
And if they have been impressed by their power and energy,
let them deduce from these how much mightier is he that has formed them,
since through the grandeur and beauty of the creatures
we may, by analogy, contemplate their Author.
Small blame, however, attaches to these men,
for perhaps they only go astray
in their search for God and their eagerness to find him;
living among his works, they strive to comprehend them
and fall victim to appearances, seeing so much beauty.
even so, they are not to be excused:
if they are capable of acquiring enough knowledge
to be able to investigate the world,
how have they been so slow to find its Master?
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Luke 17:26-37
Jesus said to the disciples: “As it was in Noah’s day, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and the Flood came and destroyed them all. It will be the same as it was in Lot’s day: people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but the day Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all. It will be the same when the day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed.
“When that day comes, anyone on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must not come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back either. Remember Lot’s wife. Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it; and anyone who loses it will keep it safe. I tell you, on that night two will be in one bed: one will be taken, the other left; two women will be grinding corn together: one will be taken, the other left.” The disciples interrupted, “Where Lord?” they asked. He said, “Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.”
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Over the past two evenings, Channel 5 has been screening the movie “Titanic”. I don’t usually watch television, but I’m currently down with a flu, so I caught a little bit of the last part of the movie last night. It was the part where the ship was sinking, and the people were rushing to the stern of the boat. One character caught my eye, although it was only for a moment. He was carrying his luggage over his head while pressing against the crowd that surrounded him on all sides.
How stupid, right? To be holding on to your possessions while your very life is in danger. It’s not like your possessions can save your life. In contrast were the young couple Jack and Rose who, not being weighed down by any possessions, were able to climb over railings and jump to platforms so as to get to the stern of the ship where they stood a higher chance of survival.
There’s going to be lots of things that we cannot bring with us when we die, and we’re all going to die one day. We can’t escape that. But there are some things that we CAN bring with us. One of the most important things that we can bring with us when we die will be our relationship with God. In fact, our entire life on earth is to prepare us for eternal life with God. But how much of our time and energy do we invest in this very important relationship with God?
I don’t mean simply spending time alone with God. That’s important, as it is in any relationship. But what is also important is doing things together. As you probably know in your own human relationships, doing things together can really bond two people together. The other thing that bonds people together for life is when they both go through a life-threatening situation together.
Not all of us get to experience life-threatening situations frequently, and not of us, when we do, look to God to go through it together. So what bonds us with God in our daily life will be time spent alone, and time spent doing things together with God.
Spend a little time today to reflect on how much time in your life you give to God, how much of the work that you do is done together with Him. There’s a big difference between doing things FOR someone, and doing things WITH someone. Not all of us, when we do things FOR God, are doing these things WITH God. Spend this time to reflect on what’s really important in life, and what we want to, and can, bring with us when we die.
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Prayer:
Dear Lord, open our eyes, our minds, and our hearts, to see what really matters in this life that you’ve given us, and teach us to treasure what is really important, and to put aside all that hinders us from living a holy life. Amen.
Give Thanks to the Lord for: A personal relationship with Jesus.
Filed under: Daily Reflections
