Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Apostle Tom <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 19:32:03 -0500
To: <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Morning Manna (June 10); BP: Job 5; RBTTY: Jn. 19:1-22; II Chron.
June 10 “As
“Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.”
Job 5:7
Although our sojourn here is brief at best, the Lord can use us for His glory and others’ good if we’ll but let Him.
Anyone who’s ever been camping knows how “delicious” the campfire is at night. There’s something about getting the kindling together and seeing those sparks slowly ignite the tinder. And, before long it’s an idyllic evening as you sit around the fire. . . spinning a few yarns. . .having a few laughs. . .and look upward into the evening sky at the stars gleaming like sparkling diamonds on a black velvet background.
If this description is making you yearn for a campfire, good—for, in many ways, our communion in Heaven with the Risen Lord will be somewhat like that. Even now, your heart is probably aching to finally be at Home where the “Great No Mores” (Rev. 21:1-4) will be more than a dream or pining of soul.
But, we’re not Home yet, Pilgrim.
We still must live in this ‘ole sinful world and still must seek to be usable, effective “salt-and-light vessels, fit for the Master’s use” (Mt. 5:13, 16; 2:20-23); otherwise, our living here will have been in vain even as Judas’, the “son of perdition/waste” (Jn. 17:12), life was.
Yes, our life here on earth will also be “full of trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” Ours is a “vapory experience” (James 4:14), where one moment we’re here and the next we’re gone. The key to victory is ensuring that our lives are lived for Christ between the time of our birth and departure.
That’s why today’s Manna is a sobering reminder to live under His Lordship. As the wood in the campfire cracks and pops—and occasionally a log will fall over like a tree being felled in the forest—a whole barrage of sparks will fly upward. Pensively, we watch them as they drift upwards, sometimes going a long distance before disappearing.
As they emerge from the flames, they are red-hot embers with the potential to burn down the whole forest given the right conditions. However, their sojourn is short-lived and soon extinguished.
And, so it is with our lives.
It’s wrong to live in worry or dread of tomorrow—for “sufficient are our troubles for today” (Mt. 6:34). Likewise, none of us have any assurance that we’ll even be here tomorrow. . .or even later today (Prov. 27:1; James 4:13-15). That’s why it’s imperative for us to “number our days that we might apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Ps. 90:12). And, since we don’t know the total number of days we’ll be here, it means to live today as if it were our last, yet to enjoy it like it’d last forever. May the Holy Spirit help us today to “redeem the time” (Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5) by “seeking first the
No comments:
Post a Comment