Four Quarters Of Life

There are certainly plenty of things to complain about lately and it seems there’s a never ending list of inconveniences piling up to discourage and depress even the most cheerful of people. My half full glass has become half empty and I find myself scrambling to ensure I find a way to keep it half full all the time. Yes, it’s becoming harder and harder to maintain my optimistic outlook on the future with the price of gas going up every day and the continued forecast of no rain. Transportation has become a premium ticket. Airlines have cut back flights to conserve on fuel and fill their aircraft to capacity in an attempt to lower per passenger overhead costs. Freight shipping costs have gone through the roof while sales in all areas have dropped. Then reflecting on a statement I heard the other morning while drinking coffee, I’m sort of willing to accept the theory, it’s just another cycle of the world that we’re all going to have to endure knowing that everything will even out and we’ll move on. Just think; one day we’ll be the generation that remembers the good old days and our great-grand-children won’t believe a word, because they’ll be growing up in a totally different world than today.
I’ve researched the cycles of life and no matter what happens in the world during ones lifespan, man will experience four quarters of life. With tongue in cheek, here’s what my research has brought to light. God created the dog and said, “Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this I will give you a lifespan of twenty years.” The dog said, “That’s a long time to be barking. How about only ten years, and I’ll give you back ten.” God agreed. Then God created the monkey and said to it, “Entertain people, do tricks and make them laugh. For this I will give you a twenty-year lifespan.” The monkey protested, “Monkey tricks for twenty years!? That’s a pretty long time to perform. How about ten years and I’ll give you back ten like the dog did.” God agreed. God created the cow and said to it, “You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmers family. For this I will give you a lifespan of sixty years.” Calmly the cow said, “That’s kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty, and I’ll give back forty?” God agreed. God created man and said to him, “Eat, sleep, play, be marry and enjoy life. For this I’ll give you a twenty-year lifespan.” But man said, “Only twenty years!? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty cow gave back, the ten monkey declined and the ten dog didn’t want; that makes eighty, okay?” “Okay”, said God, “You asked for it.” So that’s why the first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves; the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our families; then for the next ten years we do monkey tricks entertaining our grandchildren and the final ten years we sit on the front porch barking at everyone.
[Mark 8: 34-37] One thing is for certain in this life, it will end one day. We came into this world with nothing and we’ll leave the same way. But, only a sinless spirit will enter into everlasting life, to be with God forever. The unprepared, lost spirit, will enter into everlasting torment, the second death. I keep my glass half full with the knowledge that God is still sitting on His throne, and everything is under His control. The four quarters of life pass quickly. Are you ready to leave this world and face your creator?

My Grace Is Sufficient

While filling my gas tank the other day I had a flash-back to 1970 when I was in the Air Force stationed at Randolph AFB. I was also working part time at the base gas station pumping gas costing as little as fourteen cents a gallon during some of the gas wars at the time. Maybe you don’t know what a gas war was. Gasoline used to be so cheap and gas stations were so plentiful, that station owners would drop the price of fuel just to get more business at their location. Then everyone in the area would have to drop their prices to get their normal business back again. Well, you couldn’t get ten dollars worth of gas in the biggest of the biggest cars back then. This fill-up just cost me sixty dollars for fifteen gallons of gas. Of course my foremost thought is, “I hope somebody chokes on every penny of profit from this sale!” Well, I guess I feel just like everyone else. I’m being fleeced of every nickel I’ve got and I’m really becoming concerned as to what the future holds. I hope the last car running is a classic, with big fins.
A sales clerk went to the manager with a problem. “How”, he asked, “can I stop women customers from complaining about our prices and talking about the low prices of the good old days?” “Very easy”, replied the manager. “Act surprised and tell them you didn’t think they were old enough to remember them.”
There once was a man who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed he had only three hairs on his head. “Well”, he said, “I think I’ll comb my hair to the left today.” So he did, and he had a wonderful day. The next day he woke up, looked in the mirror, and saw that he had only two hairs on the top of his head. “Hmmm”, he said. “I think I’ll part my hair down the middle today.” So he did, and had a great day. The next day he woke up, looked in the mirror, and saw he had only one hair on his head. “Well”, he said, “Today I’m going to wear my hair in a pony tail.” He did, and had a grand day. The next day he woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed he didn’t have a single hair left on his head. “Yea!” he exclaimed. “I don’t have to fix my hair today!”
[Psalm 37: 25] David wrote, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.” So, who is righteous? First of all, God is righteous. (Psalm 145:17) All that God does is good and is pleasing to man. Of course man doesn’t always think so. Noah was a righteous man. (Genesis 6: 8-9) He was blameless among the people and he walked with God. Abram believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6) To be looked upon as a righteous person in the eyes of God, I must be blameless among my peers and all that I do must be pleasing to God. Am I always pleasing to God in all that I do every day? I’d be a liar if I said yes. But, like Abram, I believe the promises of God and the greatest of them, to me, is that He will forgive me of my sins. I also believe that God will never forsake me no matter how bad I think things are in this life. As I continue to walk daily with God I’m learning that righteousness has a lot to do with attitude. Although the man saw he was losing his hair day by day, he didn’t allow the situation ruin his day, and as we all know, a bad frame of mind can ruin a perfectly good day for everybody around us. Paul said he learned the secret of being content in any situation. God gave him the strength to carry on. (Philippians 4:11-13) A righteous attitude is found in God’s grace. (2 Cor. 12:7-10)