How many people do you know that work hard and try and have the best life they can muster? I am sure that you will sit back and think on this for a moment and those names will include your name as well. For the most part, you will be pleased to a degree, with all you have done in your life thus far, am I correct?

And so, as we look beyond ourselves and see others we are able to detect, those that work hard and those who do not, we see that the wealthy have their lives, as we the ordinary folk have ours. And as we look at the less fortunate among us, we see that they are fairly happy as well. So then my question is this: Of all these lifestyles, which one is the best?

Most will say, the wealthy have the best life, simply because they have so much; possessions, money, etc. Yet, this is not the answer to the question that I asked. I asked, which of these lifestyles is the best lifestyle. Now comes the real problem because of the question; there will be “considerations” to contemplate.

Each and every person will begin by either adding or subtracting things that would make each lifestyle the best or the least desirable. So now we are trying to consider all that “could” make this or that lifestyle…the best. The one thing that I see everyone will never consider, is the amount of time that each lifestyle requires.

As the lists begin to grow, they never see that there is a time requirement for the things that must be accomplished to acquire any given lifestyle. Now as this begins to take shape, I begin to see two more things that are never considered as well: birth and death.  Odd how that is, wouldn’t you agree. But then we begin to see those two things as “Give me’s” (in other words they just sort of happen), there is no rhythm or reason, they just occur?

We already know that if you are born the day will come when you will die. So now, as we look at the lists we see there is a certain “time constraint” involved, the time that a person has between birth and death, the two “uncontrollables,” if you will. We see that in order to be truly wealthy, there must be someone ahead of you, that lends a real helping hand. Thus the new person will have a real advantage at a life of wealth and leisure, but is this guaranteed? Obviously, with a “proper upbringing” and the advantage of making good decisions through good education, there is every “possibility.”And as we see, there is a possibility  but no guarantee, right? Odd how that happens. (Grumble! Grumble!)

Of course the lists get shorter as we go down in the wealth factor, right? So then in poverty, are there any lists at all? And so now, you may be feeling a little depressed, wondering for a moment what is it all worth? Stop and think for a moment; King Solomon, the wisest man ever, is still dead. Even though there are references to his God-given wisdom, King Solomon is still dead. He was a human like you and I are today. Make any sense to you? No?

Okay, let’s take into account the Kennedy Family. Joe was the patriarch of the family and grew his wealth and power from bootlegging and the Industrialization period. They had presidents and senators all along at that time, they were seen in the pictures of the times, how powerful a dynasty they were. What about today, some 130 years later? Where’s all the wealth, what happened to all the power of the family dynasty? Where is it today and why do so few know where it is all together? And if Joe Kennedy was so powerful, so very wealthy, why hasn’t his tombstone grown in size and effected more people today?

So now you understand the question: Where did it all go to? We read about his legacy in historical papers and most will say, “That’s nice, but how does that help me any?” It doesn’t and that’s the point of it all. Read the book ofEcclesiastes and you may find the answers there from King Solomon, Son of King David, the most wise man to have ever lived. God gave Him the Wisdom that He asked for and in the end, King Solomon said it was: “All Vanity, like chasing the wind.”

What most people fail to understand is what King Solomon said in the end, that we should live the life God has given us and learn to be happy with what HE has given us already. Simply put, if you were never to have a life of luxurious wealth, you never will. If you were meant to work hard all your life, then that is the life you will have, there is no need to disparage the life you were given. It was given to you by God for a reason.

One must learn to see that wealth is one thing, and happiness is another; that does not mean if you have one, the other one is there too. The world is full of these things and it is up to you and me to understand that God is in charge and not you and me. To turn that around, is how the “world” thinks, just like trying to understand the phrase: “He’s a wise fool!”

As we look at those lists again, they begin to lose their luster and their meanings are less bright. It does not matter what you are, but it does matter whom you wish to be. Look at the Bible, God’s Holy Word to you and me, we now see what we are…God’s children. What we have does not matter, but becoming a born-again believer and follower of Jesus Christ does.

I am saying it again and will continue to. We either follow Jesus Christ and go to heaven or we follow Satan and his ilk and go to the lake of fire. Rich or poor, or in-between, we must choose one way or the other. Once we have made that decision, the fruits of our days will be evident to all…most importantly…to the Lord God Almighty.

We must take an accounting of all that we do in the hours in our life. One thing is for sure, God will make you responsible for every second of your life, whether you like that or not. That is not a choice for you. We should be praying and saying, “Thank you Lord for this life of mine, for the time here to choose you or the other one and I have chosen you. Bless me with your peace and happiness and to live my for you. In Jesus Name I pray…Amen!”

For one reason or the other many have taken the wrong course in life. We must have a great education and learn to work hard and make something of ourselves, right? According to the world this is what we are supposed to do and so it is with our children, but is this what the Word of God says? We long to grow a peach and then turn it into an apple, as if being a peach is not enough for us. Currently, we have Scientists that are playing with our Genes and they attempting to bring about an “Uber-Race” of people. But isn’t that what the Nazis endeavored to do? And we know what happened to them. So why is it that we are trying this again? Are we not happy with whom God has created us to be, from the womb? There is a distinct difference between tweaking our genes and creating something altogether new.

God is the Creator and we are the Created, there is a difference folks! We need to take an accounting of that and be sure  on which side we want to be. One could bring us destruction, the likes we are not able to discern at this point in time. God never asked us to be any more than what HE created us to be. HE did create us to either follow HIM or not and HE left that part up to you and I to decide for ourselves. Problem is, we have egos that tend to get us in more trouble than it’s worth! If you understand that, then you will understand Noah’s flood and Sodom and Gomorrah. It will definitely help you in understanding that the Word of God…is absolute Truth!

Taking all of this into account, in Gods Holy Word we can then see why there was a King David and then his son, King Solomon. Otherwise there would be no Ecclesiastes for you and me to read and learn from. History is important for us to read and understand, otherwise there would be no wisdom to begin with. Reading from the beginning in Genesis tells us how all things came to be, as we know them today. In this we can easily understand if there is a Genesis, there is a Revelation, a beginning and surely an end. What makes all of this so unique, is that the Prophecies are there and they tell us what to expect ahead of time. Simply because God said so.

If we take the Word of God as absolute Truth, then we know there is a beginning and there is definitely an end, to our lives, as well as this world — and that makes the Bible…all the more…the Truth! So now, the question is, what do you plan to do with this wealth of Truth called the Holy Word of God? Read it and Believe it!

It’s either that…or…you could be the very first “wise-fool.”

I am wondering if any of you truly realize how short the time really is? Across the globe, thousands of people die every day, thousands of children die every day and by the same token, thousands of children are born every day. With the population of the earth being somewhere around 9 billion people, the thousands don’t seem to be all that alarming to us, and we go about our daily lives.

And if we throw in birthdays, well…you can see where this is going, right? There are millions and millions of birthdays every day, when we factor in that there are only 365 days to a year. I believe we could go to a statistician and with a few strokes of his keyboard, we would be given the approximate values in numbers, of how many are born and how many die every day and the equivalent number of birthdays.

It would seem there is a problem here, those numbers do not seem to be comprehensible to us, they lack something that makes them irrelevant to you and me. It could be all the numbers, even though they are people, the numbers obscure our view of that and it’s almost too much to get a grip on.

Nine billion of anything would be very difficult for us to wrap our heads around. So to understand this large number of people, we need something else to look at, so that we can make sense of what we are seeing. We cannot use language, there’s just too many of them and then when you include the dialects, it gets even worse.

Some have stated the population of the earth when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was here, was anywhere from 800,000 to 1.4 million people. By the same token many have stated there have been between 69 billion to 114 billion people to have ever lived on earth. Of course we must take into account that everyone on earth, except 8 people, died in the Great flood of Noah.

I must note here, that visualizing 1 billion of anything is pretty difficult to do and besides that, 69-114 billion has a huge margin for error. Most people would see these numbers and say, “That’s nice.” And it would then have no meaning for them.

The Bible tells us about so many groups of people by varying names and yet how many are mentioned by their numbers. In some areas there is the usage of numbers and even genealogies, but again the number of people on earth was a lot smaller then than it is now. Sort of like the number of towns-folk on the Andy Griffith Show and then looking at New York City, if you will.

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands off the coast of Australia, has a population of 596, far less than the enormous population of China at an astounding 1,366,820,000 people. If we look at China, we could say it is 1/9th the population of the world and still we would be wrong in some regard. So the problem is still there; the numbers exceed our ability to comprehend and then the headaches begin, right?

The Bible, as dictated by God uses adjectives to make the numbers easier to handle. We read things like “oceans” or “waves” to describe large numbers of people. The best example I know of is this:

Matthew 7:13-14: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and FEW there be that find it.”

While the verbiage in this Scripture is common, the effect can be horrible if clearly understood. As in my last article, we see that one little word, “FEW.” Now this is a small word and in some cases it’s use can be totally harmless, yet in this context, it should evoke some horror in people. It is describing actual numbers…without giving a number. I hope that makes some sense to you.

I wonder if you understand how significant a word can be? Words put together and spoken in a certain manner can debilitate a person or raise them up to astonishing heights, it all depends. The point I am trying to make is this, words do matter.

Having stated that, when we read the Word of God, those words were specifically chosen by God and HE is the one that gives them significance in our ears or eyes. If we are willing to pause our busy lives for a moment and then think, we can actually see His words come to life!

It’s then important for us to look at Scripture, as above, with different eyes: The Gate is WIDE and the way is BROAD…that leads to destruction. It leaves you to know, that the majority of the population of this world…will not see heaven. “STRAIT is the gate” and “NARROW” is the way” that leads to life.

And here is that one little word that counts so very much and one that needs to be clearly understood by each and every person that reads this Scripture… “FEW…there be that find it.” That one word speaks volumes, in terms of who will go to heaven and who will not and if that does not scare you, nothing ever will.

There are many, many people right now, that use words so loosely, “Love and kisses darling…love and kisses.” And yet where is the true affection? Where is the true love? Here in Texas we have a saying “Well…bless their little hearts.” It is not a compliment by any stretch. You must admit though, it sounds better than many alternatives, right?

People across the world have their own little statements, much the same as this and the words, if understood, can sting. So, we now understand that words do have a great significance to each of us, they can drain us or raise us up. The problem with so many people in the world now days and their usage of words, many of words have lost their integrity.

Many of the words, like love, have become hollow, and yet as we all know, Love is what the world needs most. They wouldn’t know true love if it jumped up and sat on their noses and called them by name.

With that clearly in mind, is it any wonder the Bible has fallen to an all-time low? The world has no idea of what is in the Bible, they choose not to involve themselves with it and at times even discredit the Bible openly. In my younger years, it would have been horrifying for someone to discredit the Holy Word of God, it just wasn’t done…ever!

Today, with all the churches and so-called pastors making such a good living on the Bible, or at least at its expense, could you ever expect anything less? I am truly wondering how they will explain themselves as they stand before Jesus Christ. Here’s another passage of Scripture to contemplate in this discussion;

Mark 8:36-38: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Notice the word “profit.” Do you see any true meaning in this word? Is this not the word that is used by this “adulterous and sinful generation” every second of every day? And then we read the word “soul” and this is not some small word. It is a direct reference to your Spirit. We also see the word “exchange” and we clearly know what this means, but notice how it is being used here in this passage of Scripture. It is asking if you understand that whatever is here on earth…stays here on earth? The physical is not accepted in heaven, it all stays right here on earth.

Again I am going to say it, if you get 70-80 years on this planet and you have all the wealth there is, what good is it when you die? That should be the first clue, that what is of the physical is not in the spiritual. Your body and all your acquired wealth, stays right here on earth and your Spirit goes on into eternity. Therefore, we should learn what is more important, 70-80 years here, or eternity. Those years would be like a drop of water into the ocean, there won’t even be so much as ripple of any kind.

Have you ever looked at the face of an angry person, a hurt person, a jaded person? Do you see a smile anywhere? Now look at what the Bible asks us to be, Happy, helpful, giving, loving, and the list goes on and on. The question is, what would you like to be like, the angry crowd or the happy crowd?

So as we stand here, looking at all the papers before us, concerning the 9 billion people, the “adulterous and sinful generation”, do you see the significance of the Bible? Do you now understand how sad it is when we read that little word “FEW?”

Do you feel any heartache? If you don’t, it is evident you are in that first group of people, the angry person, a hurt person, a jaded person. Having said that and hopefully you understanding it, the question now is, are YOU one of the FEW?