Dear Readers,
Have you ever driven on a highway in a state and you never thought you would get through it? This happened twice to me, once while driving through Georgia, and another time driving through Kansas.
The problem was that my destination state in each case was just on the other side of the long, boring state. Warm, tropical Florida was just on the other side of Georgia. And, majestic, mountainous Colorado was just on the other side of Kansas. The highway in both cases seemed never-ending and I wondered if I would ever reach my goal.
Then it happened. I crossed the border of Georgia into Florida and I started seeing the tropical plants and palm trees. The warm air oozed onto my body as I turned the windows down. I felt like I was in another world after being several months in frigid Ohio air.
The same thing happened after crossing the border of Kansas into Colorado. I drove a short way yet in Kansas-like flatness. My anticipation of seeing the mountains, however, kept me enthralled and fully engaged. Then in the distance I finally saw them! The peaks in the morning light seemed majestic. They almost overwhelmed me, and I couldn’t take my eyes off them!
This is how life always seems to be. We travel and travel. We think we will never reach our destination, if we even have a destination. The state we are in seems never ending!
Then suddenly we reach the border of our destination state, and the beauty of newness reaches us, and the memory of the long tedious journey fades away.
So it is in our journey with God!
From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines in glorious radiance. Psalm 50:2
See you next time,
Arlen
Dear Readers
"Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?" Proverbs 25:11-12
The topic "staggering toward slaughter" seems pretty morbid. It sounds like a meat slaughter house with cattle going toward their doom without realizing it. I don't like thinking about where my meat comes from and how it got on a plate in front of me. I likely think the meat industry also does not want consumers thinking too much about it. It might affect the sale of meat.
What was Solomon trying to say? Proverbs 1:1-3 state that Solomon wrote Proverbs to Israel to help them in "gaining wisdom and instruction" and to learn how to proceed "doing what is right and just and fair".
I can't read Solomon's mind but I will make a logical guess what he was trying to say. He was concerned about the Israelites and their relationship to God. He perhaps likened them to cattle that were unable to perceive that doom awaited them.
My Dad, now deceased, grew up in the Amish church, and my family and I are involved with Mission to Amish People (MAP). Amish people, and people of many other denominations, emphasize works and following rules. Acceptance of God and salvation by faith in His Son Jesus Christ is oftentimes not a point of emphasis. I myself grew up in a Mennonite church and was baptized and taken in as a member when I was about fourteen years old, but I know I was not saved by faith in Jesus Christ.
First question: Can many of these dear and beloved Amish people, others, and myself before I was saved by faith in Jesus Christ, be likened to cattle staggering toward slaughter?
Second question: Is Satan behind the staggering, and does he want people to think about the fact that they might be headed toward slaughter?
Third question: What is our role to "hold back" persons headed toward slaughter?
Fourth question: What is God's perspective on us if we do not make an effort to "hold back" persons staggering toward slaughter?
See you next time,
Arlen
