October 1992
 previous -------------- next
Every now and then God will bring an incident into our lives which will drive us back to His priorities. Such an incident occurred in our family this past month.
On a Tuesday evening, during our teen meeting, I preached a message challenging our young people with the brevity of life. Proverbs 27:1 tells us to "Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." I related to the teens an illustration which had happened to one of our Deacons that previous week. A co-worker of his retired, and left the plant that day filled with great plans of how he was going to enjoy his remaining years. However, that very night, he passed away into eternity. I reminded the young people that we have no guarantees of tomorrow, and that we must make sure that we are right before God today.
That evening, however, the illustration hit close to home. At 1:30 Wednesday morning, my wife and I heard our three month old baby cough. My wife decided to check on her, and found her not breathing. She began C.P.R. while I called for the ambulance. In those frantic moments while I prayed and she worked, it came back to me anew the fact that even as that retired laborer had no guarantees on tomorrow, so I had none either. As I sat and waited, all the other "priorities" of life seemed unimportant. No longer was my trip to play golf with my college buddies important. Sleep no longer mattered. All that counted in the world was getting hold of God, and begging Him to allow my child to start breathing again.
Our God is indeed a gracious God, for Michelle was in the hospital for two days and then came home. As far as we can tell, she is completely well. However, hopefully I have changed. I hope that I will live every day of my life as dependent upon God as I was that Wednesday morning. I hope that I will give myself to my family as if this could be their last day on earth. I hope that I will never get sidetracked into thinking that I have plenty of time to serve my Lord, for not only may God take me home today, but those who need to be saved may not be here tomorrow either. This is the day that God has given to me. I had better use it wisely for His honor and glory.
Your Pastor
|
