LIFE IS SHORT; STAY FAITHFUL

PRAYER JOURNAL 4/25/19

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

A few years ago a new “Hook-up” social media site popped up connecting people who desired to have “cyber affairs.”  Their motto was, “LIFE IS SHORT; HAVE AN AFFAIR.”  Apart from the fact that a website encourages betrayal of a spouse by illicit sexual behavior or satisfying the lustful desires of an unattached person, there is so much sadness that anyone would even join;  a “CYBER-AFFAIR”?  Only Satan could dream up such deception; lustful satisfaction without commitment, real love, touching, intimacy, caring, or sharing and you don’t even have to use your real name…it doesn’t “hurt” anyone; it’s all about you.

To which my Sweet, Committed, Caring, Always Faithful husband, succinctly replied, “HELL IS ETERNAL; STAY FAITHFUL.”

Unfortunately, society paints a hopeless picture of Life.  LIFE IS SHORT and THIS MOMENT IS ALL YOU HAVE!  We see it used in marketing new products, from motivational speakers, in the books we read, the music to which we listen and the television programs we watch…BE ALL YOU CAN BE; HAVE IT YOUR WAY; DO WHAT YOU WANT; IT’S YOUR LIFE. Yes our modern day philosophers have instilled in us a FATALISTIC view of life. 

Here are some of “their” quotes…

“Life is too short to make the wrong choice twice.” (J. Rachelle).

“Life is short, live passionate.” (unkn)

“Life is what happens while you are busy making plans.” (A. Saunders)

“This is your life and it is ending one minute at a time.” (C. Palahniuk, Fight Club)

“Enjoy life. There’s plenty of time to be dead.” (unkn)

 “What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner.” (Colette)

 My favorite after just having a painful root canal; “Life is short, smile while you still have teeth.” (unkn)

LIFE CAN BE PRETTY DEPRESSING WHEN NOTHING LIES BEYOND THE END!

Even James; even the Bible reminds us; James 4:14 Where as you do not know what will happen tomorrow, for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.  

If that was the only verse I read, I would probably feel as King Solomon so eloquently said at the end of his life, “All is vanity and vexation of my spirit.”  What a sad legacy, to have possessed it all; experienced it all; fulfilled every desire only to find that nothing truly satisfied and like a vapor life had quickly dissipated into the atmosphere.

BUT…if you continue searching the scripture, you will find HOPE; you will find PROMISE; you will find LIFE.

IT BEGINS WITH A GIFT… John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

GUIDES US THROUGH THIS EXPERIENCE WE CALL LIFE…1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your own hands as we commanded you. That you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.

INSTALLING A PROTECTIVE ALARM SYSTEM… John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.

PROVIDING THE GATEWAY TO THE NEXT… Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

AND ENDS WITH A PROMISE… 1 John 2:25 And this is the promise that He has promised us; ETERNAL LIFE!

LIFE IS GOOD WHEN IT IS LIVED WITH AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE.

Revelations 21:6 And He said to me, “It is done.”  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.  I will give of the fountain of the Water of Life freely to him who thirsts.