Saturday 30 April 2016

How we live

This week we buried my father. He was 91 years old, and achieved everything he wanted to do a few years ago. He came from being a poor boy who hardly went to school as a child, to becoming a teacher by 25 years old, a Headmaster by 45, an Inspector of Schools by 55, and a Senior Inspector of Schools by 60, when he retired. He loved God, studied the Bible every day, and never lost an opportunity to tell anyone about God's plan for mankind. He ate well, looked after his health, exercised, and travelled to the countries where he wanted to travel. When he retired he lived his last years between his two favourite countries -  the UK in the summer, and Trinidad in the winter.

How do we live? How do you live? Are you concerned at all about your mortality? Or are you too young and happy at the moment to bother? Do you know what tomorrow will bring?

Do we do what is important? Do we think about it? What really is important? Do we ask ourselves why we were put on earth? What are we achieving? And what are we giving back?

Do we love? Do we show love to everyone? I mean EVERYONE. And I am not talking about romantic and sexual love. Love comes in many forms. Love is showing kindness. Love is about showing mercy, compassion, helping others, looking out for those who are vulnerable, weak both physically and mentally. Forgiving others. Love is about standing up for the good of mankind. Love is about doing our part.

Love is not gossiping, ill speaking others, ganging up, thinking badly of people, feeling hate all the time, or anything that is negative.

God created us. He created love.

God demands us to love him.
To love each other - love your neighbour - AS YOURSELF.
To love our enemies.

None of this is easy. It is near impossible.

Have you asked yourself WHY does God ask this of us, knowing it is impossible to fully achieve? Is that him being unreasonable? Unfair?

This requires some thought. A lot of thought. It requires us to be close to God in order to make any sense of this. No real answers come from guesswork. What do we have to do?

We get close to God by reading the Bible every day. Just like we read and watch the news of the day. When we are very familiar with who God is, his nature, his desires, THEN we must start studying the Bible.

God has a plan. He had a plan right from the conception of the earth. The plan is for mankind to have been like Him. Like them - God and the angels. Adam and Eve changed that by their disobedience. God sent his Son to renew the promise to mankind. To make it possible for us ALL to have eternal life. But we are not just entitled to it. We must show we deserve it in order to get his grace. We must LOVE God first and foremost. Does that make no sense?

Think about your life, and see if you have any room for loving any more than you do.
Then ask yourself if you need love any more than you get.
If we need love, we must find it in ourselves to give love - to everyone.

More later!