When I was a kid and really wanted to do something that my folks had already said no to, I would say, "Well everybody else is doing it." Then I would get that standard reply that all moms and dads learn in parenting school, "If everybody went and jumped in the lake, would you?" It always seemed logical to me that if the majority was doing it then it must be all right. Not so.

When it comes to the Lord's work, we still do this very thing, even though we're supposed to be grown-up and mature. We make excuses in order to justify either doing or not doing something by comparing ourselves to the majority. We shouldn't compare our Christian service with others because in the end we'll only be accountable for what we do as individuals (Romans 14:12). Rather we should use ourselves as a measuring device to see if we stack up. Ask yourself, "If someone patterned his life after mine would that person be saved?" Think about it.

That's the sound that a foghorn makes, and last Wednesday morning we sure could have used one around here. As I went out to crank the truck to warm it up before going to work, I discovered that there was a thick fog, so thick that the windows of the truck were covered with moisture even though it was under the carport. About half way to work, the fog got very thick, you know, the "pea-soup" kind. The road that I was on was dark and had no center stripe. The only reference I had was the edge of the road, which at times was hard to see too. There were a couple of times I got disoriented and found myself veering from one side of the road to the next trying to find the center and there were times that I actually got lost; I didn't know where I was even though I'd traveled this same road to work for almost twenty years! After services Wednesday night, brother Tony Lewis and I were talking about the fog, and I think he got lost too, so I don't feel quite so bad.

Have you ever been lost? Have you ever found yourself at a point in your life that things were so foggy or cloudy you couldn't see the way? Last Wednesday night brother Kenneth Jordan brought a wonderful devotional that showed that the Christian is the light of world (Matthew 5:14). And in a world filled with darkness, the Christian is to shine like the beacon of a lighthouse, calling all of those lost in the fog to come to Jesus. But you know, sometimes a Christian's light grows dim and he too becomes lost and can't seem to find his way. There are so many things in this life that can distract us: family problems, trouble on the job, the constant temptation of sin and the devil is like the man who walked around in the old cities and used the "snuffer" to put out the gas street lights. Satan would like nothing better than to snuff out our lights so that we'll become lost as well as those around us. It's a sad fact of life, but we all have family and friends who are wandering through this life with no hope; even worse are those who not unlike ourselves were once in the light but now have let Satan put out their lights. What a sad thought it is because "after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them" (2 Peter 2:20, 21).

But through prayer and determination, we can be the shining example God wants us to be. You can be the person who lights up the room when you walk in because you possess that positive attitude, a positive outlook on life, simply because God has saved you through Jesus Christ, and you have the hope that it ensures. Think of the influence you will have on those at home, school or on the job. Stay focused, stay alert, study your Bible and pray often every day because the more you do, the more light you will produce. The Good Lord will see to that.