One Day Closer

Well, as any optimistic Texas philosopher will tell you in the middle of a drought, “We’re one day closer to the next good rain”. I’m sure if I live long enough I’ll hear the people who are now saying, “I wish it would rain” turn their attitude to, “I wish it would stop raining”, because, as in the past, that seems to be the weather pattern for this part of the country, like it or not. After a rather uneventful mild winter, spring seems to be popping out all over. Trees are budding out new leaves and a patch of bluebonnets and other wildflowers are already being seen here and there showing off their colors. New plowed and bedded ground is evidence of freshly planted crops by faithful souls who are still willing to risk it all. I guess that’s what keeps us all going day in and day out. We all have an investment in this life of one sort or another and it tends to drive us to protect it no matter the environmental crisis. We’re always one day closer to a better tomorrow.
“I Know Why” by Shelby Cannon; age 8; 3rd grade; Longview, Texas.
I wonder why we have flowers? I wonder why we have showers? I wonder why we have trees? I wonder why we have seas? I wonder why we have hills? I wonder why we have meals? I wonder why we have fathers and brothers? I wonder why we have sisters and mothers? I wonder why we have seasons? I think I know the reasons.
I know why we have flowers. I know why we have showers. I know why we have trees. I know why we have seas. I know why we have hills. I know why we have meals. I know why we have fathers and brothers. I know why we have sisters and mothers. I know why we have seasons. I did not look hard for the reasons. You can see the answer clearly. It is because God loves us so dearly.
[Romans 8] Corrie ten Boom, a Holocaust survivor and writer, used to say, “When the train goes through the tunnel and the world gets dark, do you jump out? Of course not! You sit still and trust the engineer to get you through.” Dark and unsure times do enter our life from time to time, like it or not. And our investments tend to make us our own engineer as we force more wood into the boiler to produce more steam powering us forward. The question is, to what? “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” (Luke 9:25)(NIV) Don’t get me wrong now. I’m not trying to plant couch potatoes here. Everyone should do their best to be productive earning a living and everyone has the right to pursue happiness in this world, but as Jesus asks, at what cost? I hope you read the chapter indexed. Consider for a moment the investment God has made in you. First, you’re made in His image, spirit. This spirit is the “self” that Jesus talked about. Our place in the universe, which God made, is in a body that God also made. God did not want man to be a robot to Him, so gave man the ability to choose. This ability makes us do some pretty stupid things at times; David compares us to sheep needing a Shepard. God gave us rules, which helped, until the rules became more important than the rule-giver. God’s greatest investment in man was Himself. Jesus, the Word of God, became flesh and lived as a human. To show us how special we are to Him, he took the sins of the world upon himself and died as a ransom for all sin. Are you convinced, as Paul is, that because of these things, “…nothing can separate me from the love of God.” You’re now one day closer to your eternal choice.