Before I was born-again to Jesus Christ, my life was so chaotic, so stressed, that I thought I would be bald before I ever turned 40 years of age. I know that as you sit and read this, you will find areas in your life, that will match mine, maybe even extend beyond.
After I graduated from High School, three days to be exact, my dad and mom had me enlist in the Air Force. They wanted to help usher in a mature adult from a disoriented and ungrateful young man and they figured the military was best suited to do so. In the end, it lasted about 4 years, 11 months, 18 days, 8 hours and 45 minutes and I was a virtual mess between the ears.
Needless to say, the military gave me skills that were never usable in the world back here in the USA. I am sure there are many that can to attest to the exact same thing as I.
When I came home from overseas, I was always busy drinking and that was about all. I just wanted to forget. Problem was, I was no longer only disoriented and ungrateful; now I was all that with a purpose and intensely angry about everything. The skills the military taught me, that was not a good thing at all.
So in this state of mind, I was at the “O” Club one evening and in walked the most gorgeous girl I had ever seen, my soon to be wife. The Lord was indeed working in my unrepentant life and it would seem HE began with bringing Her into my life. A year later we were married. We are still married some 39 years as of this past August.
Being married, brings with it a real need for income, a plan must be constructed, laid out and work must then begin. I went to school and studied really hard, but being the knot-head that I was, I chose the medical field. It was almost non-stop education and lasted for years. I was at the inception of Invasive Cardiology, later I helped to usher in Invasive Electro-physiology at our two biggest hospitals.
Oh, I was up there all right, big man on campus, giving orders and essentially working my “You-know-what” off, day in and day out, which included nights as well, and far too many! I was making the big bucks for sure and our family was prospering, which included a beautiful little girl.
I was working some exhausting schedules and hours, that left little time for home and family. My wife was looked at for a promotion to director of five hospitals and that left little time for her as well. We worked this for a little more than 40 years all together, until I had simply had more than I could stand. I began to burn out. It was during the last five years in medicine, that I turned to the Lord, wishing for some sort of peace and well-being in my life.
We had a nice home, nice clothes and cars and for the most part, we lacked very little at all, except for maybe time off together. In my final year, I was simply spiraling downward and I was having difficulty with my anger again. When the last day came along, it was like someone lifted the world off my shoulders and I was able to gulp a huge breath of fresh air for the first time in many years.
I worked for a friend of mine for about four more years, until my diabetes and arthritis made that impossible, and also the business finally fell through. It took three years of pain and hard work to finally get to Social Security and something suddenly happened.
I was reading the Word of God and I remember a passage of Scripture that said something to me and it felt like a jolt of lightening coursing through my body and my mind:
Matthew 6:19-21 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
It was the last part that struck me so strongly. All these years, I had been working so hard, so diligently, had spent so much time on the best education…and it was all for nothing. All of a sudden, I saw that I had been on the wrong track, every minute of every day. Please don’t miss understand me here, I realize I was helping people with their heart problems. The thing is, it was the wrong heart.
I had never taken that into account. All the things we had were important to a degree, but I had taken it to a much higher degree, in an embarrassing manner. I was smug and high minded. As soon as I understood this, I immediately prayed for my Lord’s forgiveness of my arrogance and I felt so ashamed of myself. And as I look around now, I am able to see what I missed out on, birthdays, holidays, wedding anniversaries, etc. The problem is that, there is no excuse for me. I was just too busy.
What did it get me? Cars that are now older with more and more problems, an aging house and I am older and slower now as well. I should have been spending all that time with my daughter and my wife, not at work, no matter what kind of work it was. I should have been reading my Bible and telling others about Jesus Christ, the coming Rapture and eternal heaven.
My “treasures” were not what they were supposed to be, but time always moves on and you can- not change the past. (Funny…in school they never teach you that.) They never give you the common sense that you really need, they keep telling you about the work that needs to be done, how to count your money, how to invest it and make more money. Schools never teach you how to love or find peace in such a chaotic world, they will not tell you about Jesus Christ.
How odd is it…that you are never taught the things that will truly make your life more livable, filled with more happiness, peace and harmony. The more I read of the Bible, the more I began to understand that whatever the world teaches you, is about all the things that never leave this planet when you die, when you step into eternity. All the things stay right here, your wealth or lack thereof, is worthless. Your possessions are worthless. What was even more troubling to me, was all the education is for here and never to learn how to survive in the spiritual realm. Nothing is ever said about after death. (The body ceases to function, therefore your job on that patient is finished and that’s it!)
Matthew 11:28-30: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
I took that Scripture to heart! I wanted that peace and that rest, I wanted my Life to mean something and to be a tribute to the One and only Person…that could truly help me in everything. I did not want to go to hell and be forgotten forever, I had had enough of the pain and misery of this life. I had watched as the older ones in my family pass on and then it was some of my close friends.
I wanted to know more and feel some sort of relief. As I progressed in the Word of God, I began to see that the Lord God Almighty had been working for me…LONG before I was ever born. HE had directed others in their lives, that would have an effect on my life. I began to kick myself for wasting so much time and energy on things that didn’t truly matter in this life.
I know today, how the Lord has softened my heart and has given me such peace in this life. I know how things “look” when I view life through eyes that don’t know Jesus Christ and now I am able to see this life through HIS eyes. I have come to a realization and I believe it is profound.
We have two things we must decide to do here and only two:
We can follow Jesus Christ or not follow Him.
The first will result in heaven, whether through death or the Rapture. The latter will result in hell, and finally in the lake of fire and there is NO changing this decision once we are gone from this little planet. Simply put…it is one way or the other.
The money, the education, the houses and cars are all nice, but never forget…they are just things and they stay here. Don’t place any real value of anything here, it has never been meant to last. Jesus Christ is absolutely everything.
Everything and I mean absolutely everything was HIS to begin with and will always be HIS, we simply rent it. The rental contract is short and the time of the rental is short as well. And if you’re not too sure about all of this, the reasons and the whys, read the Bible and you will find out what it’s all about.
When you finally put it all together, it’s as simple as taking a breath of fresh air. You must understand, everything here has an “Expiration Date” stamped on it. ONLY what is done for Jesus Christ…will last. Everything else will stay right here. The REAL YOU will be wherever you have chosen to go.
How many lies must we deal with from others, who clearly do not have any idea of what is and is not the truth, of what is truly real and what is not? Take the time to look around yourself and consider what all is going on. See the devastation and destruction of “things” and ask yourself if this is really worth all the trouble we place on ourselves? If this life is only for 70-80 years or so, is that really enough time for what you think you want? And if we look at eternity are we headed where we really want to be or have we been lied to?
If all the THINGS never bring happiness, if the careers are never enough, if we feel like nothing ever gets better, could we be spinning our wheels for naught? If we are supposed to be an enlightened species, then why have we never figured out what Life is meant to be?
The Bible has been around for better than 4500 years, there are literally millions and millions of Bibles, why have we missed what is written there? The Bible is filled with prophecy and yet how many are looking at those pages and seeing that Prophecy coming true? We already know, every single prophecy in the Bible has come true 100% thus far, and there is still more prophecy to come right up to the end of this world.
Why are so many missing these truths, why are so many unwilling to read these prophecies and watch as they are fulfilled in every way? It boggles the mind to think that the truth is right in front of you and yet too many ask the right questions, but never seek the right answers; they are so willing to believe lies. I no longer understand it. The majority are selfish and self-centered, they want to live forever and have everything, yet they walk the road of doom by choice. The real answer is in the next Scripture:
John 14:6-9: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.”
“Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?”