I am not a doomsday foreteller. I do not run through the streets of historic downtown Franklin with an old gray megaphone shouting "Turn or burn, for the time is at hand!!!" I have stockpiled exactly nothing for the apocalypse (unless you count the mindlessly collected kits in the craft closet). And, lastly, this is NOT an end times blog. Everyone who knows me knows that I am a Christian who is forever bemoaning her lack of spiritual maturity. I have some serious issues in the sin arena, things I am distraught about (which hopefully keep me humble). But the times, they are 'a changin'...to quote somebody in the sixties (or seventies). I was playing with paperdolls then, but you get the point.
It's not a time for a woman who was once so committed to her faith that she wanted a career based on doing something of lasting value (unearthing injustice and proclaiming truth through journalism) and so fixed on doing the right thing she chucked said career to raise her children (they probably wish she had gone on with the journalism bit) to stick her head in the sand and latch hook and cross stitch her way into an early (albeit colorful) grave. No, it's time for me to pray. To dedicate what is left of my life to Christ and to Christ alone. I have said it before but I will say it again; life is meaningless without Him and you can't get away with just a little bit of the Holy Spirit. He is a gentleman. You have to invite Him in and make him welcome. You have to saturate your life with the Word of God and with prayer. You have to want all of God and you have to give Him ALL of yourself. I have tried asking for a la carte sin removal and got a big "NO". It just does not work that way.
I see society changing and said change is accelerating at a pace that leaves me dizzy. The Bible says that in the days just before the Second Coming of Christ, people will not put up with sound doctrine. This means they will re-write the scriptures to say what they need them to say. This means that they will do away with Bible teaching altogether if it does not complement their desired lifestyle. Laws will change. Christians will not be allowed to talk about the truth if the truth makes folks uncomfortable. I am not an end times prophecy scholar, but I do know a few rudimentary truths about what we can expect. Even I, in my limited knowledge of that particular area of Bible scholarship, can see that we are moving toward the final days. The Bible also says that the love that many have for Jesus will turn "cold" in those last days. I have lost the fervor that I had as a young woman. I have been burned at church by religious people who play games and I have been burned by the woman in the mirror, a person who starts her day in earnest and ends it in defeat time and again. I cannot, and will not, however, persist in my emptiness. I am so thankful that Jesus is as near as my next breath. I need His forgiveness and mercy. I need the meaning that He and He alone brings to my daily life. I need the direction that He can and will give me to live out the rest of my life with purpose. His purpose, not mine, and not that of other people for me.
It's important to spend your time in a meaningful way. It's important to do good works. However, the greatest benefit to submitting to Christ is the sweet, precious fellowship He offers every single step of the way. Once you have tasted it, even if you stray far away, as I often have, a tiny part of your heart yearns so desperately for it that you come back around to looking for Him, wanting to meet Him in the garden as the writer of a popular hymn describes. Today I find my garden in a suburban den, dishwasher humming, little dog stretched out on the carpet, a pile of half-folded laundry nearby. This is my garden, and, suddenly, it is more beautiful than ever. If I am careful, I may smell the fragrance of the sweet Rose of Sharon. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
It's not a time for a woman who was once so committed to her faith that she wanted a career based on doing something of lasting value (unearthing injustice and proclaiming truth through journalism) and so fixed on doing the right thing she chucked said career to raise her children (they probably wish she had gone on with the journalism bit) to stick her head in the sand and latch hook and cross stitch her way into an early (albeit colorful) grave. No, it's time for me to pray. To dedicate what is left of my life to Christ and to Christ alone. I have said it before but I will say it again; life is meaningless without Him and you can't get away with just a little bit of the Holy Spirit. He is a gentleman. You have to invite Him in and make him welcome. You have to saturate your life with the Word of God and with prayer. You have to want all of God and you have to give Him ALL of yourself. I have tried asking for a la carte sin removal and got a big "NO". It just does not work that way.
I see society changing and said change is accelerating at a pace that leaves me dizzy. The Bible says that in the days just before the Second Coming of Christ, people will not put up with sound doctrine. This means they will re-write the scriptures to say what they need them to say. This means that they will do away with Bible teaching altogether if it does not complement their desired lifestyle. Laws will change. Christians will not be allowed to talk about the truth if the truth makes folks uncomfortable. I am not an end times prophecy scholar, but I do know a few rudimentary truths about what we can expect. Even I, in my limited knowledge of that particular area of Bible scholarship, can see that we are moving toward the final days. The Bible also says that the love that many have for Jesus will turn "cold" in those last days. I have lost the fervor that I had as a young woman. I have been burned at church by religious people who play games and I have been burned by the woman in the mirror, a person who starts her day in earnest and ends it in defeat time and again. I cannot, and will not, however, persist in my emptiness. I am so thankful that Jesus is as near as my next breath. I need His forgiveness and mercy. I need the meaning that He and He alone brings to my daily life. I need the direction that He can and will give me to live out the rest of my life with purpose. His purpose, not mine, and not that of other people for me.
It's important to spend your time in a meaningful way. It's important to do good works. However, the greatest benefit to submitting to Christ is the sweet, precious fellowship He offers every single step of the way. Once you have tasted it, even if you stray far away, as I often have, a tiny part of your heart yearns so desperately for it that you come back around to looking for Him, wanting to meet Him in the garden as the writer of a popular hymn describes. Today I find my garden in a suburban den, dishwasher humming, little dog stretched out on the carpet, a pile of half-folded laundry nearby. This is my garden, and, suddenly, it is more beautiful than ever. If I am careful, I may smell the fragrance of the sweet Rose of Sharon. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
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