The Drooping Heart

I have worked in an Assisted Living Facility, often referred to as an ALF, for the past 14 months. We have about 90 people living there along with about 40 in our skilled nursing and long term care facility, plus ICF. It amounts to people whose average age is around 85.5 years old. Naturally, these are those people who were born before the Korean war, before World War II, before the depression and mostly, before prohibition. Some, were born before World War I.
But, there is a new generation coming to the nursing home. In the next 10 to 20 years, more and more of the "baby boomers" will find their way into facilities like the one where I am presently employed. What might be rather cute will be the number of sagging tattoos that might be present upon the bodies of those men and women who come to the facilities to spend the rest of their lives. The once perfect red hearts will now appear to be drooping just a tad. The eagles and the devil masks will be looking like they were done by Picasso and the ships will be sinking in the oceans of folded skin.
Woodstock will be giving up it's people to the rollaters, the wheel chairs, the walkers and four pronged canes. Motor homes will be replaced by motorized wheel chairs or scooters. It's going to be interesting to say the least. So, enjoy the tattooed heart before it begins to droop, but prepared for when it does.

To Do or Not To Do? That is the Question!

I could always tell when my father meant something as a command or as an option to do something. It wasn't too hard to figure it out. I didn't have to ask him, "Is this something I have to do or can I not do it at all if I don't want to?" It was always pretty clear to me. It was also just as clear in the military. When a command was issued you knew right away what it was and you knew without a doubt that you were to obey or suffer the consequences. There are also many instances in the Scriptures where God speaks to us in a "command" type of language. In other words, what He is saying is not an option to decide to do or not to do. When He speaks a command, it is something that we are to do. There are some easy ones in the form of the Ten Commandments. Through the ages, we have given this group from Exodus 20 the title, "Ten Commandments." This means that we understand that these ten items are not options, nor wishes but that they are commands for us. We also notice that there is not the word "wish" or "hope" associated with them. God didn't say, "I hope you will worship me" or "I wish you would not covet your neighbor's wife." No, they are given in plain command form. Now, here is another group of commands. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
We can see right at the beginning that several commands have been given. We are to trust, lean not and to acknowledge Him. It is pretty straight forward and not too difficult to translate nor to understand. We have been commanded to trust the Lord with all of our heart. That means that we are to trust Him in everything that we do. While this is easy to say it is often something that does not happen. Our natural man has the tendency to want to trust his own devices rather than to trust God for anything. The second is equally true. We will have a tendency to lean to our own understanding rather than to lean towards God. So, as you go through the day, remember that we are to be trusting God and seeking His will in everything that we do and also, at the same time, not just leaning to our own ways. Follow God in all that you do and you won't go wrong. Praise God today that His commands are clear, brief and very easy to understand.

One Simple Fact - God Loves You

One can truly be amazed at the amount of material that is written on the Christian faith. Many of you probably get the catalog from Christian Book Distributors which details the books on almost every subject in connection with our faith plus the faith of others throughout the world. Not only are there countless commentaries and study helps but there are also all kinds of translations and even self help courses in Hebrew and Greek. One would think that there is now no excuse for being ignorant of the Bible and everything connected with it. I remember a book title a number of years ago which was, "No Magic Formula." That author probably thought about things in the same was as I am thinking today. When you get right down to it, there isn't a quick cure for anything other than turning to God's Word. We can know the history of the Bible and we can know how to parse the verbs in Biblical languages and we can know of the variants between this text and that text, but sometimes we forget the basic truth and the comfort that it gives in our lives. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Supposedly, an old preacher was once asked what was the most important thing he had learned over the years. He thought for a moment, and then replied, "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." Now, some would say that his reply wasn't really that great. Why, even a child can know that! There lies the truth in the statement. Perhaps, we sometimes forget the love that God had and has for us in this life. I felt that way this past week. Not that it was the only time in my life, but it was a time in which I felt under educated and not able to speak in neither Hebrew nor Greek. It was then that the words came back to me from the little child's song. I can find a lot of comfort in that fact. It doesn't become a crutch for me nor does it become an excuse for a lack of study. It just tells me that this is probably one of the most important things in the Bible that I need to know. Maybe that's why Martin Luther said that John 3:16 was the Golden Text of the Bible. Praise God today for the simple fact that He loves you.