“Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap
has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” – Revelation 14:15
My thoughts:
Exercising patience has been a problem for me since I was just a young boy. I remember building model cars from a kit, and I could never wait for the glue to dry before I wanted to paint the car. Then I could never wait for the paint to dry before I would start playing with the car. Needless to say my model cars always had dried glue where it wasn’t supposed to be and finger prints all over the metallic blue finish. Once the finger print was embedded into the paint you could not get rid of it without sanding down the surface, which always scratched the plastic parts to the point where they couldn’t be corrected. My father would tell me time and time again, “Let the paint dry before you play with it.” But of course I seldom followed his instructions. I’ve noticed my son is the same way, and I catch myself every now and then laughing because of the realization that I am just like my father. Only now, I can’t for the life of me understand why my son won’t follow my simple instructions and just be patient.
Parents have the incredible advantage of experience on their side when instructing children. It’s called life and as a child it’s hard to grasp the wisdom and knowledge being share as anything other than rules and restrictions. How many times did your parent tell you not to do something because the result would not be pleasant? If you’re anything like me, this happened frequently when I was growing up. They had experience and wisdom from their lives that was being shared so that we could avoid the trouble that lie ahead. As a growing youth though it was nearly impossible to reconcile this and take heed to their warnings. “If you go swimming in the lake in the cold weather, you’re going to get sick.” “If you leave your bike outside in the rain, it’s going to get rained on and rust.” “If you don’t take care of your things, they are going to get lost.” Time and time again, wisdom poured out from my parents advising me of the coming results of not following their instruction.
These are daily things, and life lessons as a part of growing up. You and I both know had we followed these lessons, we could have saved much hardship growing up. Is it not the same with God’s advice then? His word is not just a set of rules to make your life miserable, His word are the guiding principles that will help you avoid painful experiences in life. Throughout the scripture God is providing wisdom, counsel and teachings that, when applied, will change your life for the better every time. Read the book of Proverbs. I suggest reading a different chapter everyday (by the way there are 31 chapters to Proverbs and there are 31 days in most months). Read the books of Ezekiel, Isaiah, Daniel and Jeremiah; then read Revelations and see how God is telling us exactly how the world will one day end. I’m not asking you to become a bible scholar, I’m simply asking you to become informed.
God has provided immense wisdom in the written word. You have to choose to embrace it and learn from it. Just like you were a child once and ignored the warnings of your parents, my fear is that we hear the warnings of God and yet do nothing about it. Hopefully, you and I can agree that the world will end one day. At least, we can agree that our lives will end. According to Revelations and the prophecies from the Old Testament, there will be a war between heaven and hell, and there will be a judgment day. We can know this from scripture and ignore it because we are pursuing life’s pleasures, or we can take it seriously and ensure that we are prepared. This is advice that I am going to follow, and I hope that you will as well.
Exercising patience has been a problem for me since I was just a young boy. I remember building model cars from a kit, and I could never wait for the glue to dry before I wanted to paint the car. Then I could never wait for the paint to dry before I would start playing with the car. Needless to say my model cars always had dried glue where it wasn’t supposed to be and finger prints all over the metallic blue finish. Once the finger print was embedded into the paint you could not get rid of it without sanding down the surface, which always scratched the plastic parts to the point where they couldn’t be corrected. My father would tell me time and time again, “Let the paint dry before you play with it.” But of course I seldom followed his instructions. I’ve noticed my son is the same way, and I catch myself every now and then laughing because of the realization that I am just like my father. Only now, I can’t for the life of me understand why my son won’t follow my simple instructions and just be patient.
Parents have the incredible advantage of experience on their side when instructing children. It’s called life and as a child it’s hard to grasp the wisdom and knowledge being share as anything other than rules and restrictions. How many times did your parent tell you not to do something because the result would not be pleasant? If you’re anything like me, this happened frequently when I was growing up. They had experience and wisdom from their lives that was being shared so that we could avoid the trouble that lie ahead. As a growing youth though it was nearly impossible to reconcile this and take heed to their warnings. “If you go swimming in the lake in the cold weather, you’re going to get sick.” “If you leave your bike outside in the rain, it’s going to get rained on and rust.” “If you don’t take care of your things, they are going to get lost.” Time and time again, wisdom poured out from my parents advising me of the coming results of not following their instruction.
These are daily things, and life lessons as a part of growing up. You and I both know had we followed these lessons, we could have saved much hardship growing up. Is it not the same with God’s advice then? His word is not just a set of rules to make your life miserable, His word are the guiding principles that will help you avoid painful experiences in life. Throughout the scripture God is providing wisdom, counsel and teachings that, when applied, will change your life for the better every time. Read the book of Proverbs. I suggest reading a different chapter everyday (by the way there are 31 chapters to Proverbs and there are 31 days in most months). Read the books of Ezekiel, Isaiah, Daniel and Jeremiah; then read Revelations and see how God is telling us exactly how the world will one day end. I’m not asking you to become a bible scholar, I’m simply asking you to become informed.
God has provided immense wisdom in the written word. You have to choose to embrace it and learn from it. Just like you were a child once and ignored the warnings of your parents, my fear is that we hear the warnings of God and yet do nothing about it. Hopefully, you and I can agree that the world will end one day. At least, we can agree that our lives will end. According to Revelations and the prophecies from the Old Testament, there will be a war between heaven and hell, and there will be a judgment day. We can know this from scripture and ignore it because we are pursuing life’s pleasures, or we can take it seriously and ensure that we are prepared. This is advice that I am going to follow, and I hope that you will as well.
Be Blessed,
Rich
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