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| Volume 24 Number 5 May 2022 |
Page 6 |
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| Volume 24 Number 5 May 2022 |
Page 6 |
Raymond Elliott
As Virginia and I were on our way home following the Sunday morning assembly, we saw a beautiful tree in its magnificent golden splendor, and I thought of the words of God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth in Genesis 8:22. It reads, “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease” (NKJV). God remains faithful to His promise. We have the changing of the seasons. Autumn, with the beautiful and diverse colors of the foliage, is a favorite season of the year. Yet, we know that soon the array of such beauty will end, and winter will begin.
I also thought about the cycles of life and the comparison of the seasons we experience. Some of us are past autumn, and now we are in the winter of our lives. However, winter has its own beauty as does old age. While the valley has its splendor, the view from the mountain top is often more beautiful. Because of God’s grace and the death of His Son, we know that we are nearer to our home than ever before. Following winter, spring will soon follow with new life springing forth in the vegetative kingdom.
The child of God finds comfort in the words of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:50-56, which says:
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
Furthermore, we have this blessed assurance found in Philippians 3:20-21, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”
A Lifetime Supply
Van Sprague
The next thing you purchase could be a lifetime supply. This isn’t a sweepstakes. Read the first line again. It’s a fact we take for granted most seconds of every day. It would drive us crazy spending every waking hour wondering if it was our last. Perhaps we couldn’t even sleep due to fear. So, what do we do? Scripture teaches us that we need to live for our last hour, not wonder about it.
Decide about What to Wonder – If the Lord wills.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. (James 4:13-17 NKJV)
Learn about What Not to Worry – Not Things.
Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Know about What to Stay Awake – The Master’s Return.
Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming – in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning – lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch! (Mark 13:33-37)
Are you ready for the return of Jesus Christ? Don’t let anything stand in your way. If you are unsure, ask – search the Scriptures. Don’t delay.