I have
numerous family members who are in their 80’s and 90’s and struggling with being
elderly. Not only are they losing what they perceive as control of their lives,
they are losing physical strength, have less energy and suffer with aches and
pains. It’s almost as though over the last several years they have ignored the signs
of aging and they are not mentally prepared. Although the Pharisees and Sadducees
were asking Jesus for a miraculous sign, I find the Lord’s response to be applicable
in interpreting the signs in our lives. Jesus said, “When evening
comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and
in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You
know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the
signs of the times” (Matt 16:2-3 NIV).
1 comment:
Gail;
-----If our lives were a house-building project, the events and circumstances of every current situation are the fabric and materials of tomorrow’s construction. So we can not only discern tomorrow’s work itinerary by today’s events and circumstances, but also God graciously gives us a chance to upgrade tomorrow’s materials today. Today is the only chance we get to affect the quality of tomorrow’s materials. Of course, not all is lost if we fail to make that upgrade, just some of the quality of the next day’s materials is sacrificed for today’s moment. But tomorrow always brings the chance to upgrade the next day’s materials. However, if every day we sacrifice some of today to build up the quality of tomorrow’s materials, the more solid will be the house of our old age.
-----A strong and abiding house is made of three kinds of material: physical, mental, and spiritual. We are told that our health is the foundation of the quality of our lives. This is why deceitful, people-conquering politics always weasels its way into a society through the health-care system. Everyone is ready and willing to hand over whatever it takes to alleviate the terror of future bad health, even their freedom. Well. Almost everyone. Those who build their house on the real foundation, the spiritual foundation, avoid that trap. And those who choose the right BedRock for founding their houses avoid the after-death trap as well.
-----Any good set of spiritual principles help a person to bear up with poor physical circumstances. And there’s a wide variety of philosophies available in the world‘s spiritual buffet. So we see many atheists, Muslims, Hindis, etc. being well adjusted to their physical conditions. Spirituality is tricky. What very well gets one by the difficulties of this treacherous age does not necessarily assure any success at all in the age to begin after death. That success requires an honest intellectual pursuit of truth for sorting between fallacious and genuine spiritual materials. Of course, emotions are also important, but the path of truth is distinguished by the ability to sort between right and wrong. And that is basically an intellectual endeavor. Otherwise the Bible would be a set of collection of artwork instead of a book of instructions.
-----Choosing the right ground on which to lay your spiritual foundation is given to a mental task. And the mental involvement in the ongoing construction of your “house” never stops. Everyday is a “material selection and preparation” day for tomorrow’s itinerary as much as it is a “saw the boards and hammer the nails” of today‘s. The better we mentally deal with both responsibilities the finer we build our houses. And if we use The Holy Bible for a construction manual, the Lord will move our houses into eternity.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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