Christianity for Dummies

Luke 12:22-25

I’m sure it has been written but I ‘ve yet to see it, have you seen the book Christianity for Dummies?  On the first page it should have a chapter that begins with “You are not God” and the second chapter might be titled “Jesus tells the Truth.”  If your not God, and guess what, you are not even close, for you cannot add one day to your life, no matter how much wealth you have, God has made this clear in Job 14:5-6, “A man’s days are numbered. You know the number of his months. He cannot live longer than the time You have set. So now look away from him that he may rest, until he has lived the time set for him like a man paid to work.”

I’m approaching my 73rd birthday and I’ve lived a blessed and healthy life to this point, but it has become reasonably clear that my earthsuit is going slower and the tasks I enjoy like working in the yard and moving dirt and rock is more tiring than it was just a few years ago.  It was also rare in my twenties through my early sixties to give much thought to dying, but now I’ve began to give thought to a subject I have no control over.  First, and foremost I want my bride of 50 years to be cared for and to leave things in order and most of all to finish the race and to finish strong.  I do not dwell on the fact that I like all who have lived before me will some day go back to the dust I was formed from, and as a follower of Christ I try not to be anxious, for I believe Jesus tells the truth.  This is what Jesus said about all who have entered into a relationship with Him, "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:2-3)

Going back to the (Dummies for Christians) in Luke 12:22-25, Jesus could not be any clearer that we His kids are not to be anxious about anything, but we are, aren’t we?  This is what He said to his disciples,  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?”  (Luke 12:22-26 ESV)  Have you pondered on the value Jesus places on your life?  He loved you so much that He stepped out of the glory of heaven to take on flesh so as to buy you out of the control of sin.  God the Father gave His only Son the authority to become flesh and in all purity to pay a price that no other could pay with His blood He covered sin.

The Scriptures are full of verses about Jesus having authority over life, all life, and it would be easy for Him to add one day to a life, but you and I cannot do this simple task.  That is why I have peace, and I act out in my mind and actions showing that Jesus tells the truth.  My dear friend Carroll Ray Jr. called that living by faith.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice