Are We There Yet?

When my daughter was just a little thing, we would leave Tennessee for the twelve-hour trip to visit Grandma in Maryland, and before we got to the end of the street, she would say, “Are we there yet?  We were two minutes into a twelve-hour trip, and she was already anxious about getting there!  Hey, in the Bible, the Children of Israel were no better.  As they wandered in the Wilderness, they whined to Moses and said in Numbers 20:3&4, “And the people chode (chided) with Moses, and spake, saying, … why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?”  But before we judge the Children of Israel for their impatience, aren’t we just as guilty?  Our frustrations may be different, but the story line is the same.  We whine about finances.  We worry about relationships.  We chafe at speed limit signs.  Hey, don’t we sound like a little kid saying, “God, are we there yet?”  Can I give us both a bit of advice?  Sit back and let the good Lord be in charge of us and just enjoy the journey of life.  Hey, God’s got this.  Relax.

Lifeguard

 

In 1969 I went to summer school in college to make up some poor grades.  But that’s another story.  I had two classes: American Literature and Sight-singing.  I got an afternoon job at Moccasin Bend Mental Hospital as a lifeguard at their pool.  The patients enjoyed swimming and it calmed them considerably.  Each swimmer had a lifeguard assigned to them … an interesting ratio.  So, I took the Red Cross Swimming and Lifeguard course and learned many interesting things.  We were told never to jump into a pool to save a swimmer unless it was absolutely necessary.  Throw in a life ring and the struggling swimmer will latch onto it, but if you get into the water with a drowning person, they are so desperate to get air that they will climb onto you to get out of the water, and both of you will drown.  The victim has no idea of how to survive … they are frantic in their struggle!  Hey, I’m so glad that God knew how to rescue me from myself!  He sent His perfect Son to take my place on the cross of Calvary.  Jesus took the punishment for sin that I rightly deserved and gave me eternal life instead!  David said in Psalm 138:7, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.”  Jesus did for me what I could not do for myself: Jesus saved me from my sin and gave me a home in heaven!  What a wonderful gift!  Hey, have you received that gift of salvation?  Have you trusted Jesus as your Savior?  Trust Him now while you have the opportunity.  Don’t wait.

Forgiveness

 

Are you perfect?  No, I didn’t think so.  Relax, neither am I.  But why do we correct our kids and prod and push them as if we wanted them to be perfect?  Do they get the feeling that we think that they should be perfect?  I hope not.  I, for one know that I was not a perfect father, but I was the best father that my four children had.  And they would rather have had an imperfect father who loved them than a perfect father whom they could never live up to.  When I was in physical science in 1963 at Edgewood high school, I came into class one day to see everyone looking exceptionally nice.  Then I felt that sinking feeling that you get when you have forgotten that there was a field trip that day.  Oh yes I did!  But Mr. Archer, God bless his soul, took it all in stride.  We marched down to the secretary’s office and he called my mother and got verbal permission for me to go.  Then he stopped by the teacher’s lounge and bought me an orange crush drink to go with the sack lunch that I brought to school every day.  Mr. Archer paid for the drink out of his own pocket.  Then we got onto the bus and I had a great day visiting Peach Bottom nuclear plant.  Mr. Archer made it no big deal, but to me it was a big deal.  He smoothed over my forgetfulness and made me feel cared for.  And that’s a good feeling.  I know.  Hey, we should be kind and forgiving to others because the day will come when WE need forgiveness and mercy.  Paul said in Ephesians 4:32, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”  Did Jesus Christ forgive you?  Then go and do likewise to your fellow human beings, for we will all need forgiveness sooner or later.

Coca Cola

 

In 1968, I worked at Coca Cola in the afternoons loading retail trucks.  I went to college in the mornings and worked the afternoon shift.  By the way, when I graduated, I had no student loan debt, but that’s another story.  In the spring and summer months, retail stores sold so much more product that the drivers emptied their trucks by early afternoon and came back for another half load.  Then they returned that evening after a long day.  But us loaders still had to refill their trucks for the next morning.  We had forklifts for some of the order, but we had to build pallets with odds and ends of the various drinks that Coke sold.  Up front in the factory, we could buy tokens at ten for a dollar to get drinks out of the cooler.  But often, when they were running the little returnable bottles of Coca Cola on the line, a worker would give me a bottle right after it was bottled, and wow were they good!  The liquid was bottled just at the freezing point to maximize the carbonation.  One of the operators told me that I would get tired of drinking Cokes.  But I never did.  I could drink ten a shift, five days a week, all year long!  Hey, are you like that about reading God’s Holy Word, the Bible?  Do you love to read the Bible?  Or has it become mundane?  Are you over the thrill of reading the precious words that God Himself wrote?  I hope not!  David said in Psalm 19:9&10, “… the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”  Are the Words of God sweeter than honey to you?  They should be.  Never get tired of reading the Bible.  Hey, read the Bible today with renewed reverence and awe.  Respect it and love it: it’s good for you.