Are You Guilty?

Well, I’m far from being a computer expert and it only irritates me to no end that I am being forced to throw away perfectly good equipment because it can no longer be upgraded to more advanced operating systems. I don’t guess the geeks of the world understand what it’s like to wear a comfortable pair of shoes or be happy with a molded car seat and easy chair that fits your butt perfectly. They always have to change things just for the sake of change. I like my computer just the way it is! It’s comfortable! Leave me alone! But, nooo! Big business stays big because they are continually “improving” my life with things I don’t want, yet they give themselves the opportunity to run to Uncle Sam bragging about how they are stimulating the economy and creating new jobs. We’re hooked on our electronics and everybody has a better way of doing things. I guess I’m lucky with the personality of not needing the latest and greatest of whatever, every time something new hits the market. I’m still kicking and screaming fourteen years into the 21st century, having to change my telephone, forced into changing my television, having to convert my interior lighting with energy saving bulbs and having to convert to yet another environmentally safe gas for my air conditioning, along with a host of other used to be practical practices. A man can’t even earn one percent interest on the few dollars he has stashed away in a bank somewhere. If you’re not in debt up to your elbows, you have a terrible credit rating. I guess I could rant for a day, but it won’t do much good. If I’m going to function in today’s society I’m going to have to go for the bait and let them hook me one more time; I just hope I don’t lose sight of the goal.

[Matthew 26:1-4] Would I be called a Christian if everybody knew, my secret thoughts and feelings, and everything I do? Or, would they see the likeness of Christ in me every day? Would they hear Him speaking in every word I say? Would I be called a Christian if everybody could know that I am found in places where Jesus would not go? Would they hear His echo in every song I sing… in eating, drinking, dressing, would they see Christ in me? Would I be called a Christian if judged by what I read? By all my recreations and every thought and deed? Would I be counted Christ-like as I now work and play? Unselfish, kind, forgiving to others every day? If you were arrested tomorrow, accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? If you were arrested, would anyone stand by you and witness for you? Would the judge declare, “Not Guilty” because of insufficient evidence? Of course you would protest, “What about the poems and prose that I wrote? I attend services regularly, and what about the services I spoke at, the times I wept in church and the long, sleepless nights of prayer?” The judge replies, “Evidence that you are a good writer, speaker and actor, nothing more. Continue to develop your theology, and use it to paint pictures of love. We have no interest in such armchair artists who spend their time creating images of a better world. We exist only for those who would lay down their brush, and their life, in a Christ-like endeavor to create a better world. So, until you challenge this system and become a thorn in our side, until you die to yourself and offer your body to the flames, until then, my friend, you are no enemy of ours.” Jesus challenged the system; laid down his life for sinful man, deserted and alone. Are you really guilty of being a Christian?