Reluctant Retiree

They were setting up for a triathlon as I walked around Fidler Pond this morning. I had not previously heard of the event, so I was surprised. As I saw some participants arrive, I wondered what kind of preparation did they undertake to get ready for this triathlon? I am sure that they trained for each of the three portions of the race. Did any of these participants take the preparation too casually and pay the price? My grandson once entered a triathlon simply because a friend asked him to. He didn’t prepare and almost drowned.

It is interesting how we prepare thoroughly for some things,but neglect adequate preparation for others. We get the proper education or training for the job we desire. But woefully under prepare for marriage and family. Most people carefully plan vacations and meals while ignoring the need to plan and save for retirement.

In the Bible, Nehemiah takes on the project of rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. He planned his request for the king’s favor. He carefully calculated the supplies needed. Nehemiah surveyed the broken walls and determined how best to rebuild each section. He enlisted the people’s support and dedication. He made a plan to protect the people from enemies as they built. One thing that he made sure to do in each phase was to pray. He knew that he needed the wisdom, protection and provisions of God. He didn’t try to work this huge task in his own strength. He relied upon God.

How often do we try to rely on our own wisdom and strength to get things done? How often do we forget to ask God for His direction and favor? I neglect to pray far too often and have suffered the consequences of my failures. So I pray that you and I will remember to take our plans before God and be ready to submit to His plans.

I love the beauty of sunrises. The multiple colors remind me of the diversity of life. Sunrise is a time of hope and expectation for the new day. The colorful expanse across the sky gives me a sense of fullness and satisfaction. I love getting up early, going to a beautiful place in nature and watching the sun come over the horizon.

Of course, I write as a morning person who functions best in the quiet of early morning. If you’re a night owl, you probably don’t enjoy the sunrise as it beckons you to start a brand new day.

The apostle Peter spoke of a sunrise of the spirit when he wrote: “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” When Jesus returns He will usher in His kingdom for the new earth and heaven that He will bring with Him. We all need to be ready for His return by preparing our minds and setting our hope, just like getting ready for a new day at sunrise.

The new day will bring grace upon grace to the believer in Jesus Christ. However, this new heaven and earth will be missed entirely by those who do not believe in Jesus. Why not set your hope on Jesus today?

Some fairly strong thunderstorms have passed through our area in the last couple of days. The winds and rain have downed trees and broken off tree limbs, along with causing flooding in some places. Subsequently, power outages have occurred from time to time. So we have walked gingerly around our condo at times. It is a mildly uncomfortable feeling.

When we lived in Nepal, we experienced what they called “rolling blackouts”. The city did not have sufficient power to deliver around the clock, so each part of city was assigned times to receive power and times when power was not available. So we had blackouts for eight to eleven hours per day. When our scheduled blackout was during the night, it was not much of a problem, as we slept through it. If it was during the evening, it was a huge problem as we couldn’t see or do anything.

People walk through life not realizing that they are in darkness. They have adjusted their lives to behave as if nothing is wrong. It is like their eyes have adjusted to the lack of light, like nocturnal animals. The darkness controls what they can and cannot do, but they are unaware of the darkness at all. Actually, this description fits all of us. We walk in sin’s darkness and don’t realize how tight of a grip that sin has upon us.

I John 1:5-9 gives us hope when it says, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

We can either hold onto our sins and remain in darkness or we can confess our sins and have fellowship with God, who is light and life. In the darkness we will find hurts and troubles. In God’s light we receive forgiveness and salvation through His love and grace.

What a great invention GPS is! Before GPS became widely available, we had to obtain cumbersome paper maps. Then we had to study the directions to our destination and someone had to keep the map open and follow our path. Now we just type in our location, if necessary, and our destination and the GPS gives us the best route under the current conditions. Then, to make sure we get there, the GPS gives us verbal and visual commands for turns, etc. I don’t have GPS built into my car, so I rely on a handheld version, but I am grateful for this gift.

Life also doesn’t give us a built in GPS. So we often take wrong turns causing pain to ourselves and others. Other times we just can’t figure out where we should go. In other words we are simply lost, not living as we should. God calls that condition “sin”. However, God provides the remedy and cure for our lost condition. He gave us His own Son to save us and redeem us from our lost condition.

Isaiah 53:5-6 says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” We became lost by ignoring God’s way to go our own way. God’s way of bringing us back to the right path is by putting all our waywardness upon Jesus and removing it from us. We don’t deserve such love and mercy, but steadfast love and mercy is what God is all about.

I am scheduled to have a colonoscopy tomorrow. So today, I am going through the process of cleansing my colon so that they can get a good clean look at my insides. I can’t eat anything today and have to drink gallons of liquid, some of which will make me expel the contaminants.

The hardest part for me is to drink that much liquid in a short amount of time. I am normally a very slow drinker, sometimes taking hours to drink a cup of water. But the process is necessary to get a thorough check up on my health.

God wants us to do daily check ups on our spiritual health also, so that we can be strong and effective followers of Jesus. When we find that we have missed the mark, we need to confess our sins and turn away from them. He will then cleanse us from those sins. Our hearts will then be clean,, ready for service and worship. This is the process of spiritual removal of contaminants. II Corinthians 7:1 says, “Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete purity because we fear God.”