The Sun or the Son?

 

I was browsing my old pictures (digital) and came across this cute one from August 17, 2017.  Well, Greyson was cute and John was … well … John.  Ringgold had almost a total eclipse of the sun.  As close as Athens, Tennessee (30 miles away), it was totality.  But here, we just had the “golden ring effect” which is only a sparkle of the sun peeking around the moon which was blocking the sun.  But just as the moon was blocking the sun, our sin blocks us from the Son (of God, that is).  We can’t see Jesus because our lives are clouded by sin.  But we are promised freedom in Jesus Christ.  With Jesus, we are no longer bound by sin.  Jesus said on Himself in John 8:36, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”  We are free from serving sin.  And when we are forgiven of our sin, we can see the Son, just like we can see the sun after a total eclipse.  Hey, are you free from the power of sin?  You can find that freedom from sin by trusting in Jesus Christ.  Trust Him right now.

Dangers

 

In 1980 I began teaching at Calvary Christian School.  I was making $800 a month.  In order to make ends meet, I became the janitor after school.  Actually, it was quite peaceful once the kids went home.  Don’t get me wrong - I liked the kids, but I also liked the peace and quiet.  Sometimes I went home to spend time with my family and then walked the one block back to school to clean up later.  But if I was working in the church auditorium, there was a hazard.  When the building was built, money was tight, so all of the light switches were up front near the breaker box.  So, when I came into the dark auditorium, I had to walk up the center aisle, turn left, walk up 3 steps walk past the organ and finally turn the lights on.  All of this had to be done in the dark.  Invariably, I tripped over something - the front pew, the steps, or the organ corner.  The switches needed to be near the back door.  Hey, that’s the way it is in life.  We need the light of God’s Word to show us the dangers in the world.  David said in Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”  If I would have had a flashlight or a cellphone light, I could have seen the dangers that were hidden from my eyes.  How wonderful to have the light of God’s Word.  But the Bible is a book and needs to be read.  Hey, have you read from God’s Word today?  If not, close down facebook and read some verses from the Word of God.  It will do you good.  Yes, it will.

Tragedies

 

I have some wood in my back yard saved for a weenie roast someday.  But winter’s over and it’s too warm to burn anything, so I’ll just have to wait until fall.  Saturday I was mowing and moved a piece of wood that had been there a long time.  A whole microcosm of creatures was underneath.  A little brown salamander scurried for cover.  A colony of ants were suddenly uncovered.  Each one grabbed up an egg and began looking for cover.  Rolly Polly bugs ran for the tall grass nearby.  Within a minute, all the creatures that had been living under the log had melted into the safety of nearby cover.  If I could have communicated with them, they would have told me of their terror.  An ant would have said, “A giant tornado ripped off the top of our house, and it was all that I could do to save the children!”  The brown salamander might have said, “I was minding my own business eating lunch when suddenly, my home was gone and the blazing sun was scorching me.  I barely escaped with my life!”  Hey, how do we react to life’s tragedies?  What do we think when our world is disrupted with a hurricane or Covid?  David said in Psalm 27:1, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”  After our initial terror, we should flee to the Lord.  For He ALONE is our strength and refuge.  Hey, trust in God.  He has everything under control, and the Lord will even use tragedies for our benefit and for His glory.  You can count on the good Lord!