End the Evil

Posted on by korgrocker

“End the evil of those who are wicked, and defend the righteous. For you look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God.”
Psalm 7:9 NLT

Wouldn’t it be nice if evil could be banished from this world. We look around at global events, and see the wars and strife that decimate nations. As I write, the war in Ukraine continues. The Middle East appears constantly in the news, as one nation, faction or religious group battles against another. Evil people doing evil things to other evil people. There seems no let up in the wickedness present in this world. We yearn for the day prophesised by Isaiah, when he wrote, “The Lord will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes. They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore”(Isaiah 2:4). 

But then we look closer to home and see the evil present in our societies. Communities blighted by drugs. People dying at the hands of drunk drivers. Children abused. Fights at football matches. The list seems endless. Wouldn’t it be nice if evil could be banished from this world.

But then we perhaps stop to think about ourselves, and the evil thoughts that emerge from time to time in our minds, redeemed even as they are. Perhaps we echo what Paul wrote in Romans 7:23-24, “But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” We find ourselves in a place where we would dearly love to see the end of evil but accept that we are as much the problem as any other person. Thankfully, through Jesus, we have the remedy for our sin as we read on in Romans. “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death” (Romans 8:1-2). 

Jesus told a parable of the Wheat and the Tares, which we can find in Matthew 13, and which pictures a farmer planting good seed but the enemy comes along later and plants weeds. The wheat and the weeds grow together, and when the workers observed the weeds, they wanted to leap in and pull them all up. But the farmer asked them to wait until the harvest time, when the weeds could be separated from the wheat crop, and burnt. Applying that to today, God created human beings to be like Him (in His image) but the enemy, the devil, corrupted His creation (the Fall in the Garden). Through Jesus, believing and repentant people become the crop of the good seed but all those who prefer evil will be separated at the End of the Age.

There is another thought. If God removed all evil from the earth today, would there be anyone left? As Paul wrote, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). There is coming a time when evil will be dealt with, at the End of the Age. We don’t know when that will be, but happen it will. God sees what is going on in people’s hearts. He sees the righteous people saved and forgiven of their sins. But he also sees the hearts and minds of evil people, and takes note. God is righteous as well as loving. He wants all people to respond to His love and be saved from the judgement to come. But equally, He allows all those who prefer evil to continue in their ways. He created mankind with the ability to choose their destinies. 

Dear Father God. Sobering thoughts this morning. We come once again to the Cross, looking once again at our Saviour and asking for forgiveness. Not for us, Your children, the ways of evil. And we pray for both for domestic and world events, that You will hold back the tides of evil and protect Your people. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

God Judges

Posted on by korgrocker

“Arise, O Lord, in anger! Stand up against the fury of my enemies! Wake up, my God, and bring justice! Gather the nations before you. Rule over them from on high. The Lord judges the nations. Declare me righteous, O Lord, for I am innocent, O Most High!”
Psalm 7:6-8 NLT

People must think that David was either very brave or very stupid, speaking to God like that. We, of course, know intuitively that our Creator God cannot be ordered around like David was trying to do, but that didn’t seem to stop him having a good rant about divine justice being meted out on his enemies. David wanted God to become angry with his enemies and bring about a universal judgement of nations, all arraigned before Him. Oh, and in the process, David demanded that God declared him righteous and innocent.

But David wasn’t wrong in his expectations, because there is coming a day when God will judge the nations. It was just that David seemed to require an immediate Godly response, so we can perhaps instead consider a prophetic message here, embedded in David’s rant. But we mustn’t forget that God had judged the sin and wickedness prevalent in the earth before. We remember the Flood, Genesis 6:5-7, “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them””. God judged the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and we can read the account in Genesis 18 and 19. “So the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant”(Genesis 18:20). “Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulphur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation” (Genesis 19:24-25).

Has God judged peoples today? There is the reality of what God’s present judgement looks like in Romans 1. Here are some extracts, “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. … So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.  … Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarrelling, deception, malicious behaviour, and gossip. … They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too” (Romans 1:18, 24, 28-29, 32). Persistent and wicked people will be abandoned by God, and we can read the consequences in Romans 2:5-6, “But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will judge everyone according to what they have done”. 

David asked God to wake up and deal with his enemies. But God is very much awake and is storing up all the information needed for that terrible day when everyone, without exception, will come before Him and be judged. Thankfully, God is extremely patient, as Paul wrote in Romans 2:4, “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?”‭‭ And that’s the issue. God wants no-one to perish and end up in hell, and He has allowed a life span for mankind to respond to Him in repentance. Once the last breath is taken a person will find that, for them, God’s patience has expired.

God judged people through the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah, but He also judges today by abandoning people to the consequences of their wickedness in their lives on earth.

So, we pilgrims must never give up in sharing with others the Good News about Jesus. Only He can forgive our sins – there is no other name through which we can be saved. 

Dear Lord Jesus. Thank You for Calvary and Your willingness to die for mankind so that whosoever believes in You will inherit eternal life. We are so grateful, and we pray for our friends and family, that they too will find the narrow gate that leads to life. In Your precious name. Amen. 

Betrayal and Justice

Posted on by korgrocker

“O Lord my God, if I have done wrong or am guilty of injustice, if I have betrayed a friend or plundered my enemy without cause, then let my enemies capture me. Let them trample me into the ground and drag my honour in the dust.”
Psalm 7:3-5 NLT

Psalm 7 continues with David apparently still in a hard place, bothered with his conscience, persecuted by those around him, and desperately seeking God for rescue and His protection. But he started to do what we all do at times – he looked for a cause for his distress. Have we ever been in a place where the Heavens seem like brass and we feel that our prayers never reach God? Have we ever been in a place riven by troubles and wondered where God has gone. Perhaps we are in a place like the Psalmist when he wrote, “Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, “Where is this God of yours?”” (Psalms 42:3). A place that perhaps feels like David’s “darkest valley”. 

David wondered if there was something that he had done that had made God withdraw from him, and so he asked God if he had done anything wrong. Had he treated someone unjustly? Had he betrayed a friend? Had he behaved in a way to his enemies that wasn’t right? If he had done any of these things, then David invited God to let things happen to him that would count as punishment for his misdemeanours, justice for his crimes.

But thanks to Jesus, we know that God doesn’t treat us in that way. Paul wrote, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. … But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:6, 8). In Romans 8 we read, “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? … And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love” (Romans 8:35, 38).

So when we find ourselves in a dark place, seemingly a long way away from God, is it God who has withdrawn from us? Of course not. He is always there for us, His loving kindness, grace and mercy beyond measure. And so once again we seek Calvary’s cross, where we look into the face of our wonderful Saviour, Jesus. There, as we cast off our burdens of sin before Him, we find once again a right relationship with God and comfort in our times of trouble. Refreshed and restored, we can prayerfully face into the issues troubling us, with God providing the care and support that we need.

Dear Lord God. Nothing can separate us from Your love. Please help us to live in the light of that every day of our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Finality of Death

Posted on by korgrocker

“Return, O Lord, and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love. For the dead do not remember you. Who can praise you from the grave?”
Psalm 6:4-5 NLT

A grim subject to write about this morning, and not one that is a popular discussion point in every day life. Death is a certainty. No-one will escape its clutches. Human beings get to a point in life when their bodies wear out and they die, and David was aware of that because he took pains to remind God of the fact. David seemed to be afraid of his enemies and prayed for rescue and salvation from death, a common prayer by anyone in fear of mortal danger. News is coming in this morning of a plane crash in South Korea with many deaths resulting. Those people would have cried out to God for rescue, whether they knew Him or not. But most people (over 90%) die peacefully in their sleep, having fulfilled their “three score years and ten” or even more if they have the strength. 

David reminded God that dead people cannot praise Him, and that is the issue. We have a short span of life available to us during which we can offer God our praise and worship. A time when we can communicate with Him, thank Him, love Him, serve Him and enjoy Him, as the Westminster Catechism records. But inevitably there will come a time when this opportunity will pass. As we read the Davidic Psalms, we can see that David had a relationship with God, birthed in the long hours while he watched his father’s sheep. Times when he praised and worshipped God with his harp, finding the sweet spot of relational bliss with his Creator. He knew that God loved him. He knew that God supplied his needs, and he knew that he could communicate directly through his prayers and conversation with his Lord. But in this moment of crisis, he appeared to be facing into death, and was appealing to God for rescue. 

We know that there comes a time when our physical bodies die and are disposed of as being of no further use to us. Most people think that there is something going to happen after we die, and there are some strange theories about what that is. We have incarnation, where we return in a different body. Some believe that everyone goes to a place they call Heaven. Others believe that when people die they enter a period of blackness, the ultimate finality. But the Bible tells us that when we die, our spirits live on and end up in a holding place we call Heaven or hell. Jesus told a story about the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16, and from the conversation Jesus had with the adjacent penitent thief at Calvary, we know that there is a place called paradise awaiting us. So the question facing into mankind is, without exception, “Where will your spirit go after you die?” We pilgrims have made the right choice, because we are children of God. But what about those around us, who perhaps have yet to make a decision, and for whom the clock is ticking? In Acts 2:40 we read, “Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”” And these words still reverberate today, as we repeat them to the lost and dying around us. The most important choice that a human being can make is about their post-death future. 

Dear Father God, please lead us to those who are open to Your Gospel, and are waiting for someone to share what You have done for us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Controlling Anger

Posted on by korgrocker

“Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent. Offer sacrifices in the right spirit, and trust the Lord.”
Psalm 4:4-5 NLT

There is much to be angry about in today’s society, just as there was in David’s. Today, as we interface with the fellow members of society around us, we inevitably come up against situations that have the potential to make us angry. We watch a news report, or read a social media post, and feel the anger starting to well up within us. Operating a motor vehicle can always have the potential to initiate a personal angry episode, as we observe the behaviour of other drivers. But it’s ok to be angry – we just need to make sure it doesn’t get to the point where it controls us. To be clear, if the anger we feel is negatively influencing our attitudes and actions, then it is controlling us, and that is sin.

Jesus became angry one day with the behaviour of the people in the synagogue. We can read the account in Mark 3:3, 5, “Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand.  … He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored!” But Jesus didn’t let His anger about the unbelief present in the people control Him. Instead, it led to a sadness about how or why people should have hearts hardened against the wonderful miracles that were possible with God. And His anger resulted in a positive outcome, particularly for the man with the deformed hand. On another occasion, Jesus became angry with a situation that had brought so much distress to the people He loved. John 11:33, “When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled“. Again, Jesus didn’t let His anger control Him. Instead He did something about the situation that turned mourning into joy. John 11:43-44, “Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!””. 

The Psalmist David brought us good advice in Psalm 4 about anger. When faced with a situation that causes us to be angry, he wrote, don’t react straight away. Instead, go away and think about it, preferably overnight. Get before God and ask for His perspective, and trust Him to bring about a righteous conclusion. When we become angry about something we face, perhaps an injustice or similar, we should ask God what he wants us to do about it. And if it is beyond our ability to bring about a remedy, then we should pray and ask God to deal with it. But if we do that, we should really leave it with Him, and not repeatedly pull the situation back, chew over it, and get angry again. David’s advice was timeless – we should, in the “right spirit and trust the Lord”.

Father God. When we face into the injustices of life, please help us to channel our anger righteously and in accordance with Your will and purposes. In Jesus’ precious name.. Amen.

Father and Son

Posted on by korgrocker

“The king proclaims the Lord’s decree: “The Lord said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have become your Father. Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession. You will break them with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.’”” 
Psalm 2:7-9 NLT

A decree is a sign of ruling. We read about one in Luke 2:1, “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world“. The king, emperor, or any other political ruler in an autocracy has the authority to issue an instruction or command. In a democracy this is the function of the elected government. And the civic authorities, if necessary supported by a loyal armed force, will ensure the decree is carried out. In these verses today, we see a decree that is twofold in its meaning – it applied to David and his kingdom but it also has a prophetic meaning, foretelling that Jesus, the Son of God, will one day inherit a much larger Kingdom. In Isaiah 9:7 we can see the extent of it, “Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this”. But what about the “iron rod” and “clay pots”? If we turn to Revelation 19:15 we can see snippet of the end time vision John received about the victorious Jesus, ruling and reigning in His Kingdom, “From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress”. To be in an unbelieving nation in those days will be a terrible place to be.

One day the risen Jesus will be the theocratic divine and anointed Leader in the ultimate Kingdom of Heaven that is established here on earth. We pilgrims have read the last page in the book and we know how the End Times will come about. And the penultimate verse on the last page says, “He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20). Jesus declared another decree – “I am coming soon”. And we reply in eager anticipation, “Come Lord Jesus”. In a dark, wicked and sinful world riven by wars and disasters, we receive comfort that it will all end well for God’s children.

Dear Lord Jesus. We look forward to Your second coming. We don’t know when it will happen, but happen it will. “Come Lord Jesus”. Amen.

The Chosen King

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then in anger he rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury. For the Lord declares, “I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.””
Psalm 2:5-6 NLT

On the one hand we have a picture from this Psalm of rebellious and unbelieving nations warring against God, and then, on the other, we find that God has installed His “chosen king” in Jerusalem. Who is this “chosen king”? At the time this Psalm was written the king was David. He was the king chosen by God to replace Saul – the details are in 1 Samuel 16, 1, 13, “Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.” … So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah”. David eventually took up residence in Jerusalem as the king of Israel and the “holy mountain” was the Temple Mount, still there in Jerusalem today. 

But there was also a prophetic message about the King to come, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Although Jerusalem, up to now, has always been a minor city compared with the sprawling metropolises of the world capitals such as Paris, Tokyo, London, etc., it has always had huge implications for the global religious and political communities, in a time yet to come. In Isaiah 2:2 the verse starts,”In the last days …” and it will be there that Jesus will govern His global kingdom. In Acts 1:11 we read, ““Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”” One day Jesus will return again to the very place He left this world, Jerusalem.

We pilgrims are a people of vision, and we look forward in anticipation to the time when Jesus, our Lord, returns. We know where Jesus will return to from Acts 1:11. Jesus gave us dome information about the manner of His coming in Matthew 24:30, “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory”. We will have no doubts about how Jesus will return to Planet Earth. But are we ready?

Dear Lord Jesus. We echo the words in Revelation – “Come Lord Jesus”. Amen.

Angry Nations

Posted on by korgrocker

“Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one. “Let us break their chains,” they cry, “and free ourselves from slavery to God.””
Psalm 2:1-3 NLT

The first three verses of Psalm 2 shows us a picture of rebellious and jingoistic nations, with leaders who have discarded God to the point that they want to be totally atheistic with no mention of God and His Son allowed their societies. Such examples are communist nations, particularly in the Far East, with China, for example, having a largely atheistic population. Instead they promote Marxist ideologies that they say replaces any need for a belief in a god. In fact, the state has become the “god” for the people. North Korea is a country where leaders are deemed to be divine. But why are such nations so angry, angry to the extent that they want to battle any other nation to fulfil their “futile plans“. Such a geopolitical scene dominated the politics of the psalmist’s day and nothing has changed in the 21st Century. National names may have changed but the sentiments are still there.

The Jews are God’s chosen people. They were before David’s day and nothing has changed since, but this may explain why nations are so angry. Nations intent on living wicked and evil lives are anti-God and anti-Jew, even to the point of irrationality. And they get angry and make plans to get back at God and His people in any way that they can, as any follower of Middle East events can see. So, in a sense, the anger and plotting becomes an obsession, binding them with chains of hatred and effectively enslaving them in their fight against God. Mistakenly they think that if they can eliminate God’s people, then they would have eliminated God Himself.

So how do we pilgrims respond? One prayer I have been praying is from Psalm 122:6, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May those who love you be secure“. And we pray this prayer about Jerusalem because God’s people, the Jews, live there, and we want God to show them mercy and forgiveness, security and their ultimate salvation. We also bear in mind that Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives, now subsumed within Jerusalem, when He comes again. Acts 1:11, “‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven'”. And it will be there that Jesus will rule and reign, from His throne in Jerusalem. Exciting times ahead. We don’t know when Jesus will return but we must be ready. It could happen at any time.

Dear Lord Jesus. We pray today for peace in Jerusalem, and we also pray for your return soon. In Your precious name. Amen.

What About Him Lord?

Posted on by korgrocker

“Peter turned around and saw behind them the disciple Jesus loved—the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, “Lord, who will betray you?” Peter asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord?” Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.” So the rumour spread among the community of believers that this disciple wouldn’t die. But that isn’t what Jesus said at all. He only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”“
John 21:20-23 NLT

Peter had just completed a difficult conversation with Jesus. Three times, Jesus had asked him if he loved Him, and three times he responded that he did. Jesus has gone to say how Peter’s life would eventually end, presumably adding to his discomfort, and He then reminded Peter that he must follow Him. But Peter then did what we try to do sometimes – take the focus off ourselves and try and divert it to someone else. Turning around, Peter saw John just behind him, and he asked about his future as well. Jesus said to Peter that it should be of no concern to him how John’s life would end, and he once again told Peter to follow Him, “As for you, follow Me”. 

Too often people, even us pilgrims, try and evade a situation by trying to avoid accusations or blame by involving another person. It is common to find a child blame someone else when in trouble. A person in the dock, being prosecuted for a crime that they committed, will sometimes claim a defence of mistaken identity, just in case the evidence against them is a bit weak. But regardless of conduct in this life, there will be a time of reckoning. Romans 14:10-12, “So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’” Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God”. Thankfully, the names of us pilgrims are written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life, but there will perhaps be some uncomfortable moments when Jesus asked us, “Why didn’t you …”.

Jesus told the parable of the Three Servants, each left with some responsibilities when their Master went away on a long trip. His expectation was that they would use their God-given abilities to do something significant for Him. The first two servants were commended, “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’” (Matthew 25:21). But the third servant failed to use his abilities, even though they had been granted by God Himself. And the penalty was dire, as we read in Matthew 25:29-30. “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

Father God. You have given us many blessings but we deserve none of them. We desire to do Your will, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

It Was the Lord

Posted on by korgrocker

““Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.”
John 21:12-14 NLT

Once again, Jesus served His disciples. The moment would not have been lost on them, as they remembered how He had washed their feet in that Upper Room not so long ago. Before them were hands bearing the scars of the cruel Roman nails, hands tenderly passing to them portions of bread and fish, reminding the disciples that before them was the Risen Lord. Perhaps their tired minds were thinking about what was going to happen next, because even death by crucifixion and burial in a tomb was insufficient to stop this Man. He was no revolutionary, intent on overthrowing the occupying forces in Israel. He preached a message of hope, peace, love and eternal life with God in Heaven. How was all this going to impact their lives? So they munched on their breakfast, wondering.

We pilgrims were a people who lived worldly lives, our futures mapped out, or so we thought. We were in a career, at school or further education, facing into the usual things most people get involved in. Finding a wife or husband. Having children and then enjoying grandchildren. Retiring. Solomon decided that such a life was futile and meaningless, and he wrote, “I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14). And so we might have agreed with him, until one day we heard the Message of Hope. It may have been through a friend, a family member, at a funeral, or even through a tract or wayside pulpit. But we met Jesus and our journey was immediately changed. All our plans for the future had to be rewritten, but in a way that wasn’t immediately clear. We joined the small company of early disciples on that day – they didn’t know much about their future either, but they knew it had to be different. 

Solomon later wrote, “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Our life became one of uncertainty, as we believed in Jesus and followed Him in our journey of Life. And follow Him we still do. We don’t know all the twists and turns in the road ahead. Ananias never thought that one day he would be called to pray for a man called Saul, who had just had an encounter with the Living Jesus on the Damascus Road. But he was obedient to the call, regardless of the consequences. Neither do we pilgrims know what Jesus will ask us to do today or tomorrow – all we must do is to remain available to the call when it comes.

The disciples sat before Jesus, eating their breakfasts, unaware that just round the corner was the Day of Pentecost. We never know, but such an occasion might be waiting for us too. 

Dear Lord Jesus. You have our lives mapped out before us, lives of excitement with You. Please guide us in Your ways, this day and every day. Amen.