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Vol. 12 No. 6 June 2010 |
Page 14 |
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Vol. 12 No. 6 June 2010 |
Page 14 |
What God Does for His Children
Mark McWhorter
God is very good to those who love Him and follow Him. In Psalm 145 there are three things stated about this relationship.
In verse eighteen, we are told that God is “nigh unto” them, but who is He near? The second part of the verse tells us He is near those that “call upon him in truth.” God is always ready to be near us, but He requires us to call upon Him, and He requires us to do that “in truth.” This means it is possible to call on Him, but not to do so in the right way.
In verse nineteen, we are told that God will “fulfill the desire” of those that follow him. God does not spiritually bless those who do not obey Him. In the verse, we are told what is required to obtain those blessings – “fear him.” The second half of the verse clarifies what blessing He is primarily talking about – “save them.” If we truly fear God, and as we learned above, call upon him in truth, then He will save us.
In verse twenty, we are told that God “preserveth” them that follow Him. He providentially cares for us here on earth, and he will keep us near Him all the way through our death. The verse says we must “love him.” God does not preserve those that do not love Him.
Call upon Him, fear Him and love Him. If you do these things, God will be near you, He will fulfill your desire, and He will preserve you. If any of these things are hard to understand, ask an adult.
David A. Sargent
“Everyone has only one life” is a project in Japan prompted by a message from a middle school girl fighting a chronic disease. Poets have been holding readings across the nation to introduce her message to the general public in Japan, asking people to finish the sentence that begins with: “Because everyone has only has one life…” “Because everyone has only one life, let’s laugh joyfully every day,” a high school student replied. A mother, whose son committed suicide, finished the phrase as follows, “…let’s live! Live! Everybody, live! I want to live, too.” A book containing about 60 of the best messages is in print, with the hope that it would inspire people to love life.
God, Who gave us life (Genesis 2:7; Acts 17:28), reveals to us the purpose of life in His Word. Consider the following passages of Scripture: “For ‘He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil’” (1 Peter 3:10-12; cf. Psalm 34:12-16). “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; see also Hebrews 9:27). In order to understand the purpose of life, we must understand that we are accountable to the One who gave us our life.
We must also understand the provision that He has made for us because of His love. The reality is that as we live, we sin – and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). However, God, Who gave us physical life, also desires to give us eternal life through His Son. God gave His Son to die on the cross for our sins so that we might live (1 Thessalonians 5:10). Eternal life is the gift of God to those who: believe and trust Christ (Acts 16:30-31), turn from sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10) and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38; Galatians 3:27). Jesus “died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:15), for there is only one life!
“Only one life, ‘twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.” Won’t you accept the Savior’s offer of life? Won’t you live for Him?