Articles
Life Is A Gift From God
PLACES WE HAVE NEVER BEEN BEFORE. A while back I read an article that caused me to give some thought to this subject. Life is a continous process of changes. When we are small children just learning to walk, read, go to school are all new to us -- places we have never been before so to speak. As we grow older getting a job, getting married, having children, and later grand children are all new "places" for us. We must adjust and at times make decisions and changes in accordance with those new "places". As we age we find it necessary to find new ways to cope with changes that may come in our lives. For example, after middle age we may find it impossible to do many things we could do before. Physical abilities begin to diminish with age. No matter how hard we may try, this is the way God has made our bodies.
When we finally reach a "place" called old age -- not sure when that starts??, things continue to change and we may find it hard to accept at times. God has blessed some of us with many years of blessings and privileges. Many years of happy married life, faithful children we love, and many grand children are some of life's wonderful blessings. After getting much older we seem to value these blessings even more than at earlier times. God loves us and always wants the best for His people.
When we go to His Holy Scriptures we find many examples of folks at different times in life. David is a good example. We early on find him as a young shepherd boy working for his father. By following his life we see him as one who, with God's help, defeats the giant, and eventually is chosen to be king of Israel. He fought many battles for God and later we see him in his late years.
"Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse declares, And the man who was raised on high declares, The anointed of God of Jacob And the sweet psalmist of Israel, The spirit of the Lord spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue. The God of Israel said. The Rock of Israel spoke to me, He who rules over men righteously, Who rules in the fear of God" (2 Samual 23:1-3)
From this passage we see David's devotion and faithful trust in God. Even though he did some terrible sins earlier in life, his heart was dedicated to God and showed its condition when he needed to repent of those sins. (2 Samuel 11-12)
"Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord". And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. However, because of this deed you are given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme; the child also that is born to you shall surely die." (2 Samuel 12:13,14)
Sin always carried with it consequences. One of those for David was the death of his son by Bathsheba after his adultress affair. And additional sins to cover his guilt.
In his final days we find David in somewhat frail condition: "Now King David was old, advanced in age; and they covered him with clothes, but he could not keep warm. So his servants said to him, " Let them seek a young virgin for my lord the King, and let her attend the king and become his nurse; and let her lie in your bosom, that my lord the king may keep warm. " (1 Kings 1:1-2)
"As David's time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son saying, "I am going the way of all the earth. "Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. And keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statures, His commandments, His ordinances and His testimonies, according to what is written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, so that the Lord may carry out HIs promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, "If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart, and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel." (1 Kings 2:1-4)
David's son Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes chapter 12 how the temporal body of man begins to fail with age. Notice with me.
"Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:6,7) Another "PLACE WE HAVE NEVER BEEN BEFORE" will be our eternal home.
Life is a gift from God. He is always in control, we need always to give Him thanks for every blessing. From our earliest years on through the journey of life, He needs to be the center of our attention. Make sure of your relationship with Him. The goal of heaven depends on that. He wants all to be saved, but it must be on His terms. Jesus and the gospel make that possible. God be with us.
Ross
