In the Fall of 1944 there was a great operation planned in Europe that could end WWII by Christmas. It was to be a drive from Belgium, where the Allies had fought to since D-Day in June, across Holland and into Germany itself. It was a complex and risky venture and so soldiers who would walk, ride or parachute in were briefed as best they could be before the battle began. They created “sand tables” which were miniature models of different objectives that each group would be responsible for attacking and holding until more soldiers could arrive. The
ones dropping from airplanes had the riskiest job since they would be dropped behind enemy lines and mainly would capture bridges so that the soldiers coming by vehicles could keep going forward. One parachute group was gathered and was to be shown a bridge that had the Dutch name pronounced GRAV. When the commanding officer pulled back the cover of his unit’s sand table he declared “Men, this is our destination” …and it was the bridge with the word in big letters reading GRAVE! All the soldiers swallowed hard when they saw that where they were all headed was the GRAVE. One of the tired veteran looked at the name and simply said… “Yeah, we know that our destination…but what are we supposed to capture?” That true story is always a reminder to me that no matter how young we are, how good a shape we are in…none of us are getting off planet earth alive. We all have an “expiration date” and none of us really know when that is. In Job 14:5 Job is talking and he says: “You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer.” We are reminded that we need to live well each day, value our time we
have and focus on what really matters. The Bible tells us that we need to concentrate on two key things…first, love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength…and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Everything else in the Bible comes under either one of those two things. The Bible reminds us that we get to choose to live
this life any way we want. But the Bible reminds us that this life is a gift that comes from God and when we leave this earthly journey…we are accountable to God for how we have lived for him. Yeah, I know that a lot of folks say that don’t believe that we are answerable to God. Well, you get to live any way you want, but the Bible says that when we die, God has the last word. The good news is that if you are reading this you and anyone you share life with today can live well…and the instructions are in that book we call the Bible. And God has a great start with a rescue plan to wipe away every sin that you have ever and will ever commit. That is faith in Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross to pay for those sins. You just come to him and ask to be forgiven and then take whatever time you have to repent…that simply means going in a different direction…and follow this Jesus. Pretty simple but it is an offer that expires when you do. And no…there are no “do overs”. Join God’s family and tap into this love and forgiveness and strength and comfort that is just waiting there for you. And when you do, that life you live will continue forever. Here’s our Bible verse for today…
Psalms 39:4 NLT “LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my ber I’m praying for you…
PJ
ones dropping from airplanes had the riskiest job since they would be dropped behind enemy lines and mainly would capture bridges so that the soldiers coming by vehicles could keep going forward. One parachute group was gathered and was to be shown a bridge that had the Dutch name pronounced GRAV. When the commanding officer pulled back the cover of his unit’s sand table he declared “Men, this is our destination” …and it was the bridge with the word in big letters reading GRAVE! All the soldiers swallowed hard when they saw that where they were all headed was the GRAVE. One of the tired veteran looked at the name and simply said… “Yeah, we know that our destination…but what are we supposed to capture?” That true story is always a reminder to me that no matter how young we are, how good a shape we are in…none of us are getting off planet earth alive. We all have an “expiration date” and none of us really know when that is. In Job 14:5 Job is talking and he says: “You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer.” We are reminded that we need to live well each day, value our time we
have and focus on what really matters. The Bible tells us that we need to concentrate on two key things…first, love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength…and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Everything else in the Bible comes under either one of those two things. The Bible reminds us that we get to choose to live
this life any way we want. But the Bible reminds us that this life is a gift that comes from God and when we leave this earthly journey…we are accountable to God for how we have lived for him. Yeah, I know that a lot of folks say that don’t believe that we are answerable to God. Well, you get to live any way you want, but the Bible says that when we die, God has the last word. The good news is that if you are reading this you and anyone you share life with today can live well…and the instructions are in that book we call the Bible. And God has a great start with a rescue plan to wipe away every sin that you have ever and will ever commit. That is faith in Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross to pay for those sins. You just come to him and ask to be forgiven and then take whatever time you have to repent…that simply means going in a different direction…and follow this Jesus. Pretty simple but it is an offer that expires when you do. And no…there are no “do overs”. Join God’s family and tap into this love and forgiveness and strength and comfort that is just waiting there for you. And when you do, that life you live will continue forever. Here’s our Bible verse for today…
Psalms 39:4 NLT “LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my ber I’m praying for you…
PJ