Useless!

“Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning till late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to His loved ones.” Psalm 127:1-2 (NLT)

Have you ever worked a whole day – or even longer - to find that all your work was unnecessary or no longer needed? That building permit; that job for a customer; that tidy home… How did you feel? Frustrated? Even angry?

The Latin motto “Nisi Dominus Frusta” …is based on this psalm, “Without the Lord, Frustration”. Wanganui’s own motto, “Sans Dieu Rien” – “Without God, Nothing” is even more accurate. What is your life’s motto? Are you trying to live your life without God?

Just working harder and harder will not give meaning to your life! You will only eat ‘the bread of anxious toil’… Bring on the stomach ulcers, the tension headaches, the handfuls of pills. Yes, you may even get more toys in the short run but even the one with the most toys dies in the end. Then what? Listen to God’s wisdom and allow Him to give your life meaning and eternal purpose.

 ‘Without God, nothing’? Or ‘With God, everything’?

Don’t come to the end of your life and realize you’ve wasted it because God was not the builder of your life…

Reaching for Jewels...

“And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

“Excavations in Pompeii have revealed the petrified body of a woman with both hands full of jewels. The victim had been overwhelmed by ashes during her flight just outside the city.” The Sydney Morning Herald (Sat 24 Dec 1910)

Previous issueSaturday 24 December 1910

Someone once said, “The trouble is that too many people are spending money they don’t have for things they don’t need to impress people they don’t like.”

It’s easy to get caught up with the transitory “jewels” in life at the cost of those things which are of critical importance. We ‘have to have’ certain things; we ‘have to’ impress certain people… and we lose sight of that which continues when those ‘have to have’ things fade away…

What will happen to you the moment your heart stops beating and all your gathered goods lie useless around you or clutched in your hands? Your soul will continue to live. Have you made provision for that eternity? Is anything worth more than your soul?

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in Me and believes in Me will never ever die…” (John 11:26)

This truth is the only “jewel” worth holding on to… but it needs to become a reality for you before you can “have” it.  Believe in Jesus and live!

You can run but you can't hide...

Watching the developing saga of the Oscar Pistorius trial and seeing Oscar’s struggle to keep the verdict of ‘Guilty’ from being hung around his neck… brings to mind the court scene that will play out with every single one of us when time as we know it, comes to an end.

The Apostle John records this future event in great detail, “I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.” (Revelation 20:12)

There will be no place to hide on that day because the Judge will be able to read your thoughts and your heart. Every action ever made by you will be examined…every thought scrutinised.  How does one keep anything from an ‘all-knowing’ Judge?

There will only be one Defence Attorney able to successfully keep the ‘Guilty’ verdict from being put around your neck – and that is Jesus Christ. If you have asked Him to control your life, He will get an “Innocent” verdict proclaimed over you because the Judge accepts His evidence on your behalf as the Truth.

Until then, you can run… living your life, following your dreams and ambitions but can you dare to do so while not under His protection?  You can only have your name written into His client list, the ‘Book of Life’, while you are alive… After that – no hiding place!

“God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him” (John 3:17)