Titus 1:2-3
I have read that young men think of sex very often and an
older man thinks about death frequently.
I’m sure there is some truth to that, but when it comes to death it has
no age group, it happens to the young as well as the aged. These are the questions that may come
into your mind when you think about death. I’m not talking about someone else’s death, but your
death. As I’ve matured and seen
many who are younger than I go out of this world, the subject of death frequents
my thoughts and these are some of the thoughts I have: have I left things in
good order like our finances, have I made sure that Jan will be able to live in
a manner she has enjoyed? Have I
left an inheritance for my daughter, son-in-law and grandsons, but also have I
left a legacy of living life on planet earth that will bring glory to God and
be of value to those who come after me.
Often I’ve pondered these words of Jesus; “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world
and forfeits his life? Or what
shall a man give in return for his life?” (Matthew 16:26) It is never to late to change
directions, even your GPS gives you the best route, the quickest route, and
most of us choose the fastest route.
Why are we in such a hurry, do we understand that God refers to this
life as just a vapor, it’s like a flower that blooms one day and the next day
is gone. Paul is telling Titus and
us that our hope is not in this life, the vapor life, but our hope is in the
eternal life with the Father and our Lord. A life promised by God who does not lie and who promised
that life to all who accepts His free gift, Jesus; who has taken your place, paid
your debt, and given you His Spirit.
If you have been blessed to live in the greatest place in this
world, the United States, then you also have been exposed to the gospel, and
you have made a choice. Since God
chose to give us a free will to accept or reject His gift of love, each time
you or I have heard the gospel message we have chosen to accept or reject Jesus.
Your Creator, your Redeemer, will
not force His will on your vapor life, but this is what our Lord tells us that
acceptance will cost. It is found
also in Matthew 16:24-25, “Then Jesus
told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let
him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, (the vapor life) but
whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Eternal life) Is not this the question we
all must answer; have I found the vapor life, but turned my back on the eternal
life, because I have been fooled into believing that a life of self denial and
serving God and following Christ, is not going to meet my needs. Wake-up, stop buying into the lie of
the enemy and this world system, and change the vapor life for the eternal.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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