Do You Know...?

I was somewhat taken aback the other day when I discovered that someone had attempted to force their way into a storeroom at the church building. It’s really weird how one can look at an object and know something isn’t right with what you’re looking at, but can’t immediately figure out what’s wrong. The door to the storeroom is a key entry only and as I was putting the key into the lock it appeared that the door was already ajar or had been improperly closed and locked. Upon opening the door the mystery revealed itself. The door casing was splintered and my brain quickly deduced that someone had tried to break the door down. All that’s in the room is overflow from the office - printer inks and toners along with some books, accounting records and janitorial supplies - in my mind nothing really worth stealing. I surveyed the room to discover nothing missing and again concluded that the break-in was unsuccessful. Thanks to the three inch wood screws I used when I removed the worn out typical door-knob and installed the key only deadbolt lock, the want-to-be thief was denied his booty and probably has a sore shoulder.

A number of years ago, leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina, invited their favorite son, Billy Graham, to a luncheon in his honor. After wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham stepped to the rostrum, looked at the crowd, and said, “I’m reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who this month has been honored by Time magazine as the ‘Man of the Century’. Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the ticket of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached into his vest pocket. He couldn’t find his ticket, so he reached into his trouser pockets. It wasn’t there, so he looked in his briefcase but couldn’t find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn’t find it. The conductor said, ‘Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I’m sure you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it.’ Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket. The conductor rushed back and said, ‘Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don’t worry! I know who you are. No problem. You don’t need a ticket. I’m sure you bought one.’ Einstein looked at him and said, ‘Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don’t know is where I am going.’” Having said that, Billy Graham continued, “See the suit I’m wearing? It’s a brand new suit. My children, and my grandchildren are telling me I’ve gotten a little slovenly in my old age. I used to be a bit more fastidious. So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon and one more occasion. You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I’ll be buried. But when you hear I’m dead, I don’t want you to immediately remember the suit I’m wearing. I want you to remember this: I not only know who I am...I also know where I’m going.”

[1 John] “...I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (5:13). With a serious read of the entire letter John wrote to believing baptized Christians, I think one can come to the conclusion of who they are and where they are going. Is your life centered around the Christ or the antichrist? Are you a child of God or a child of the world? Do you worship Jesus or money as your savior? If you were to die right now, where will you spend eternity?