Reluctant Retiree

There seems to be a darkness sweeping over our land and the world. Negative thoughts are taking many people captive and they are losing hope. Some people are enslaved to these thoughts and are lashing out in violence. We hear their stories daily in reports of mass shootings, suicides, wars, and demonstrations.

Jesus attributed this darkness to one source, the devil. Jesus described the devil in John 8:44 when He said, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Whether or not you believe in the devil, you have to admit that our world is covered in darkness. We must distinguish the truth from lies. One telltale mark of lies is the intent to deceive. Lies are intended to tear down rather than build up. Any thought within you or words spoken to you which aim to discourage you and take away hope are lies. We must immediately discard them.

If we seek God and search His Word, we will discover the truth that God is our everlasting hope. He offers us salvation and eternal love. His kindness and forgiveness is freely given to all who believe on His name. In Him we find truth and assurance.

We know how to give good gifts to others. Furthermore, we understand how to give gifts that meet needs in others. If we are able, we don’t withhold some good gift that is needed by someone else, especially our children.

The daily news is full of stories of people in need. In addition, we often meet people with specific needs that we have the means to provide for. Yet we pass by these people, thinking someone else will help them.

A lawyer once asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus answered by saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” But trying to justify himself asked, “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus then told the story of the Good Samaritan. A man was traveling when he was beaten and robbed, eventually left on the road as though dead. A religious man and an official passed by the man without providing help. Then a certain man, whom the society looked down upon, came upon the man and tended to his needs. Jesus asked, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” The lawyer responded, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Mercy is defined as compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone who is in need. Mercy is often needed but rarely given. We harshly judge others and condemn them. God, on the other hand, is rich in mercy. His mercy is infinite. He offers His mercy freely, even to us who have previously rejected Him. God is eager to give His mercy to us. He delights in forgiving us and showing compassion toward those of us in desperate need of mercy. All we have to do is acknowledge our needs and receive these gifts, trusting in God’s mercy. It is time to love God with all our hearts, souls, strength, and minds.

I know that I am not the only person to get lost while driving to my destination. Sometimes it is a matter of having misunderstood the directions. But most of the time, it is because I failed to follow the directions, even when the GPS voice is telling me where to go. Even though I have plenty of signs and instructions I can get lost.

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes do the same thing when making life choices. God’s Word gives me the directions, but I either misunderstand the instructions or simply ignore them. Just like driving the car and not following the directions, not understanding and following God’s instructions leads to disastrous consequences.

Isaiah 55:6-7 says, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Going our own way and trusting in ourselves is equivalent to rejecting God’s directions. To get on the righteous path, we need to forsake our thoughts and trust in God’s directions. He does not move away from us but we move away from Him by going our own way. If we forsake our self-centered ways, God promises to give us compassion and abundant pardon.

Why not find your way home to forgiveness by leaving your old ways behind and seeking to follow God’s ways? Don’t ignore the signs and warnings that God is giving you.

Think about your classroom days, including university classrooms. As you look around the class, you will find some students listening carefully and others having difficulty paying attention. Generally the good listeners got good grades and succeeded, but the poor listeners did not.

Life can be like the classroom. Most of the time life is teaching us some lesson. We mature and gain wisdom when we listen carefully to the lesson and apply truth to our lives. If we fail to learn from life’s lessons, we will surely suffer unwanted consequences as we are doomed to repeat our failures.

Luke 8:18 says, “Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” We must listen carefully and apply wisdom and truth to our lives. If we listen to the wisdom of God’s Word, trusted advisors, godly mentors, and the Holy Spirit, then we will mature into godly men and women who bear much fruit. But if we don’t listen carefully to such wisdom and truth, even what we think we know will be fruitless and of no benefit.

Jesus told the story of a man with two sons. The man asked both sons to go and work in his fields. One son told his father that he would go and work, but he did not do either. The other son said that he would not go, but did go into the fields and worked. Jesus asked his listeners who had obeyed. As you would expect, the people all said that the second son obeyed by going to the fields and working.

Many people say that they are religious. They point to their church attendance and observance of religious festivals. God has a much higher standard for those who seek to know Him and walk with Him. Joshua 24:14 says, “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness.” A real relationship with God requires a heart of worship, along with sincere and faithful service. Lip service and infrequent attention to our faith does not make us religious. Our relationship with God needs the same focused attention and devotion, and more, that we would give our most valuable relationships. If we claim to know God and have received His many blessings, we will give Him our sincere and faithful worship and service.

However, we cannot offer sincere and faithful service to God until we have come to know Him. And we will not know Him until we trust Him with our lives. This begins with acknowledging our sinfulness and need for His forgiveness. Then we can ask Him to come into our lives and change us by the power of His Spirit. Then we are in a place where we can come into His presence with sincerity and faithfulness.