#72a Back to the future(28th Dec 2005)

Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. All ye that hope in the Lord’
Psalm 31:24

We are on the cusps of a great miracle right this very second and most experience it, but never acknowledge the fact.

It is not about the gluttonous Santas and delectable Santarinas, nor about intoxicated ruddy faced reindeers or fawning elves, but rather, it is about how miraculous one can just be a breath away from the great unknown, if not for the grace of God.

Quirky as it might be, though I am sure we have seen worse on television, one habit I have got into is to take a quick glance at the obiturary pages every day.

Some in the financial industry, do it as a job, for purposes of tracking their debtors or depositors, I do it to remind myself of the call that all believers of Christ are asked to do.

God forgave us all our sins and took away death’s grip on us, when Christ died on and rose from the cross.

It is not about the inevitable death of our bodily shell, but rather the salvation of our soul, to God’s kingdom, away from the fiery pits that Satan wants to drag us into with him, for eternity.

‘There are 6 days in which men ought to work, in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.’
Luke 13:14

Do we only breathe on certain days and at certain times. If so, truly we should be with our Maker much earlier.

Yet, as one takes a look at the obituaries, what have always been utmost in my mind is this question ‘what kind of life did the departed lived when still breathing’ to justify the epitah placed next to his or her photo?

Were some of them like the Jews of old whom Jesus in Luke 13, termed as hypocrites, men of the sinful world, espousing all the niceties of good Godly living, without living it.

Clearly, there were also some who must have lived a praise worthy life of faithful living to arouse such words of praise and joy to God’s glory and grace

Today, many believers of God, dutifully do their dues.
- they go to church(fidgeting for the less than inspiring sermon to end on time, so life can carry on)
- some attend many Christian courses and talks to be an expert on God, without ever really having a heart to heart talk with our Father
- others do what the scouts do, collecting merit badges for doing work that they think is good for God rather than what God wills
- if belief was loosely expanded to include knowing or having heard about God, many do but still rather believe in themselves and the wares of the world




Better to be damned now, than be forever damned.

As Queen Marie Antoinette(in the days of Bastille and the French Revolution) laid resting her well coiffeured head on the ergonomically French designed guillotine, one wonders upon what must be going through her mind, before the sharp blade forever split body and soul.

The day will come for all of us, be it in your longest split second ever, or for some, a couple of long cold, wintry seasons, when we would have to ponder upon not just what was, in our past, but also, what lies ahead, as our outer shell comes ever that closer to the end of its finite shelf life.

Ever wondered where our departed loved ones are and what they are doing now??

The human mind is a pretty fertile one, and books and songs have been written, careers changed and even lives lost, as we the finite men, try to fathom what after-life is like.

Of course, some doesn’t want to know, whilst others try to seek the elixir of life, so that they need never know.

In the Bible, Jesus shared a story about the wealthy materialistic man, whose soul suffered tremendously in hell, and who wanted the Heavenly powers to send a dead man to tell his living siblings to warn them on the foolishness of their ways on Earth, inorder to ensure that they do not make the same mistakes like him.

As the year comes to a close, some will gladly leave it, others dread the end of Dec, and some can be pretty nonchalant about the next year.

Jesus concluded the story of the wealthy man with the reminder that with all the signs and wonders done on Earth in his, ie men’s lifetime, yet men often choose to conveniently ignore and disobey, would they ever believe a dead man.

In year 2005, on a macro scale, we have the tsunamis and the hurricanes, not forgetting the earthquakes.

On a personal level, we would also have our own little turbulences.

To understand the future, do take a leaf from the chapters of our past.
History does gives us a great understanding of the future, for man is consistently inconsistent.

If we just take a few steps backwards and reflect with a grateful heart, surely there must be a loving God for us to give thanks to, for being with us throughout the year and the years to come, before He returns.

The grace of God is indeed sufficient for the day….

‘Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof’
Matthew 6:34