Tuesday 1 March 2016

All men are like Grass

All men are like Grass
The prophet Isaiah wrote,
“A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” 
“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 
The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. 
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” 
                                                                                             Isaiah 40:6-8.

When your life is over how will you be remembered?
In the town where I live there is a small cemetery where twenty or so people are buried. They are the earthly remains of what at one time was a prominent family in this part of Canada. There are libraries, other buildings and even a road I drive on every day named after the family such was their importance at one time.
Yet today thousands of people daily travel down the roads named after the family use the library and other buildings and pass that small cemetery and pay no attention to it. Most don’t know who the family is or what t they did.  Such is the way of the world.
All of mans deeds eventually no matter how noble they may be are forgotten. A great example is the signing of the Magna Carta one of the greatest documents in history. People know about it. But other than King John who was forced to sign it, who knows the name of the men who wrote the Magna Carta. Undoubtedly some historians but few others. Yet historians tell us it was one of the most important documents ever written.
Like wise it is with the deed of all men. They eventually will be forgotten at least by men. God however will not forget.
The writer of Ecclesiastes states,
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole  duty  of man. 
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” 
Ecclesiastes12:13,14.
You can choose to deny God that is a freedom God gave you. That still does not negate the fact that God exists.
I believe every person on the earth needs to decide for themselves, first if there is a God and second if there is as I am certain, will He let you into his heaven.
The apostle Paul writes,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.” 
                                                                     Ephesians 2:8,9
Christians believe God reached down to man and offered him salvation simply by believing in his one and only son Jesus Christ. Jesus said of himself,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. 
                                                                                                                                John 3:16-18.
Put simply all our good deeds as good as they are will not get us to heaven only faith in God will do it.
The good deeds as a friend of mine said “are the icing on the cake.”
James the half brother of Christ writes,
James writes,
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?  
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  
If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.  
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?” 
                                                                                                                  James 2:14-20.
It is by our good works that people also remember us. It’s quiet often why libraries, other buildings and roads are named after people. Still even those good works will one day be forgotten by all but a few historians.
All the accolades of man however mean nothing in the face of eternity. There’s an old saying that goes like this,
“You have only one life. It will soon be past. Only what’s done for God will last.”
To the Christian reading this I would ask. Are you doing something with your faith? Are you helping others in the name of Christ?
Francis of Assisi a man who practised his faith wrote,
“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” 
                                                                                                      Francis of Assisi
  Dear Christian is this the sincere prayer of your life?
Please think about it.

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