Grains of Sand

A friend was driving me home yesterday after we had gone out for lunch. As we waited for the light to change, an SUV, ignoring the red light, raced through the intersection, just missing a child who was crossing the street. The driver did not even slow down. The incident reminded me of the times I have come close to being struck at the same intersection by drivers watching oncoming traffic but not paying any attention to the pedestrians using the crosswalk. With yesterday’s incident fresh in my mind, this verse from Psalm 54 was especially meaningful this morning: “ Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life ” (54:4). I have a neighbour who often responds to my greeting: “How are you?” by saying, “Well, I got out of bed this morning.” And most of us have heard the old chestnut: “I checked the obituaries in the paper this morning and my name wasn’t there so I guess I’m okay.” As we age we seem to spend more and more time looking over our shoulders wondering when dea...

Google Images The famous vow that Ruth made to her mother-in-law, Naomi, has been repeated in countless wedding ceremonies—though not a single one, I'm sure, where the bride has actually made the vows to her new mother-in-law! " Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God… " (Ruth 1:16, NIV). But the words Ruth spoke to Boaz are of much greater significance that what she said to Noami. Ruth has been working in the fields of one of Naomi's relatives, Boaz. She has been protected and provided for as she has worked. But she is not safe. In the night, at the end of harvest, Ruth goes to Boaz and, as he sleeps, she lies down at his feet. When the man perceives that someone is lying there, she says to him: "' I am your servant Ruth," she said. "Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer '" (Ruth 3:9, NIV). Ruth would never enjoy the security of the ...

When my parents died I was forced to reexamine a truth that I had believed in academically but had never, until that moment, tested. Did I, or did I not, believe in the afterlife? If I didn't, then the road ended there. All I would have left would be memories and a few momentoes. If I did, then I would see mom and dad again. Curling the mind around such a concept is difficult. After all, I don't know anyone personally who has come back from the dead—except Jesus. That's a huge exception, and the point. Paul writes: " Brothers we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him " —1 Thessalonians 4:13, 14. As Jesus is our example in everything else in life, He is our example in death as well. He lives, and because He lives, so do mom and dad. And so will I. When I fall "as...

Eventually I have to admit defeat. The shrunken, gray leaves, once green and soft, now crumble at my touch. There is no hope of revival now. As much as I hate to do it, the plant is dead, and needs to be thrown away. I have no resurrection power. Dead is dead and there isn't anything I can do about it. Martha thought dead was dead too—until Jesus came along to teach her better. Her brother was already several days in the grave when the Lord finally showed up. Martha wondered at the delay, rebuked the Lord for it, but dead was dead and there was nothing anyone could do. We know how the story ends. With God, dead isn't really dead at all. I had to go hunting to try to figure out the apparent contradiction in these verses in John 11:25, 26 (NIV) when Jesus says: " I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. " Okay, do we, or don't we, die? The Amplified New Testament sa...