Timely Thoughts from KeRusso

Once I was walking behind two men, one and one seeing. The man who could see was describing to the man who was blind what the moon looked like in the darkening sky. It was a beautiful and unforgettable moment. I was impressed by the friendship. How blessed the blind man was to have such a friend, a friend who could help him “see”.

A little over a week ago, Adrián Simancas entered a very rare club He was swallowed by a whale and then spit out a few seconds later. In recorded history, there was another person who was swallowed by a whale and then spit out to live and tell about it. That was Jonah, if the big fish that swallowed him and spit him out was a whale. The difference is that the whale was sent by God to swallow Jonah and kept him inside its belly for 3 days. The whale that swallowed Adrián apparently did so by mistake and spit him out seconds later. 

There is a story in the Bible, found in 1 Kings 19. It is the story of a great servant of God who was discouraged and afraid. He felt beaten, and he felt he would soon lose his life. Feeling this way was bad enough; far worse was the timing. That story starts in the previous chapter. Elijah had just won a great contest in front of the people of Israel. He had stood up “alone” against 850 prophets of false gods, and Elijah had won. The people were professing they would follow the LORD God again. However, there was a queen who wanted the people people of Israel to follow the religion of those prophets Elijah had defeated and killed. This queen, Jezebel, swore she would kill Elijah within the next 24 hours. So Elijah ran away for his life and had sat down in a desolate are and wanted to die.

So here we are, in between Christmas and New Year's. These seven days are some in-between times for us. On Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, share gifts, spread kindness and love, and we eat a lot of food. On New Year's, we watch parades and football games, maybe make some resolutions, and eat a lot more food. Some people sleep in because they stayed up late, or because they have a hangover from drinking too much the night before.

Thousands of years ago, Solomon wrote a book named Ecclesiastes. The observations he recorded in this ancient scroll are timely and relevant today. He wrote about human activity an pursuits being focused on things under the sun or under the heavens. Another way to say that would be people were focused on life without giving a thought to the God in the heavens.

As I listened to the talk about the recent election in the United States, a truth became clear to me. I heard people expressing why they were voting for a particular person, and I heard people give certain reasons why others should vote for a certain person. It seemed people had their top reasons for voting in a particular way. Everyone felt strongly about their reasons. The people who got elected were the ones who appealed to the most reasons people had. I suppose it is that way in every country where people get to vote for their leaders.

Have you ever wondered why people can become so divided and immovable in their divide? We see division all around us. We wonder why there seems to be no consensus about what we each think is clearly right. How is this possible?

If it is righteousness that exalts a nation, and if it is God who determines the boundaries and duration of nations, then it is vital that people of any nation seek God, learn his will and follow his ways.

I can remember the night clearly even though it happened over 45 years ago. I went bowling with some friends. I didn’t have much money, but I had a enough to go bowling and to buy something to drink. I also had a $20 bill in my pocket. That didn’t happen much. (It actually hasn’t happened a lot since.) we had left the bowling alley and gone to McDonalds. Somewhere in that parking lot in reached into my pocket and accidentally pulled out my $20. It fell out without my knowing it. It was only later, after we had left the restaurant, that I realized I had lost the $20.

Let’s take a moment and consider the current movement that pushes for sex changing surgeries for minors.The push is even taking place in public institutions like schools. Those in power in some places are pushing for teachers and parents to allow the children to choose to be referred to as the opposite sex, and even to have medications and surgeries to change their bodies to the opposite sex. It seems some adults in schools are promoting this view, even pushing to keep parents uninformed of what their children are being told and being encouraged to do. There even has been attempts to pass laws to make this easier for children to do without parental consent.

In the proverbs of God there is some wise advice we will find timely: “Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly (Proverbs 17:12). To understand this proverb, you need to understand what a “fool” is in the book of proverbs. The fool is any person who refuses to listen to God and follow his commands. We see the sense of that, because since God created and gives life, so he knows the best way to live. His commands instruct us how to live that best life, so anyone would be foolish not to listen and follow his teachings.

In 1967, Louis Armstrong recorded a song entitled “What a Wonderful World.” Beautiful song with a great title; however, we might not believe it to be an accurate assessment of life on this planet. Watch or listen to daily news and you won’t walk away with that thought. Look at the problems in your family, school, workplace, community, city, state or country and you will likely think we come up short. Wouldn’t it be great, though, if this could be a wonderful world in every aspect?

Once I was walking behind two men, one and one seeing. The man who could see was describing to the man who was blind what the moon looked like in the darkening sky. It was a beautiful and unforgettable moment. I was impressed by the friendship. How blessed the blind man was to have such a friend, a friend who could help him “see”.

A little over a week ago, Adrián Simancas entered a very rare club He was swallowed by a whale and then spit out a few seconds later. In recorded history, there was another person who was swallowed by a whale and then spit out to live and tell about it. That was Jonah, if the big fish that swallowed him and spit him out was a whale. The difference is that the whale was sent by God to swallow Jonah and kept him inside its belly for 3 days. The whale that swallowed Adrián apparently did so by mistake and spit him out seconds later. 

There is a story in the Bible, found in 1 Kings 19. It is the story of a great servant of God who was discouraged and afraid. He felt beaten, and he felt he would soon lose his life. Feeling this way was bad enough; far worse was the timing. That story starts in the previous chapter. Elijah had just won a great contest in front of the people of Israel. He had stood up “alone” against 850 prophets of false gods, and Elijah had won. The people were professing they would follow the LORD God again. However, there was a queen who wanted the people people of Israel to follow the religion of those prophets Elijah had defeated and killed. This queen, Jezebel, swore she would kill Elijah within the next 24 hours. So Elijah ran away for his life and had sat down in a desolate are and wanted to die.

So here we are, in between Christmas and New Year's. These seven days are some in-between times for us. On Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, share gifts, spread kindness and love, and we eat a lot of food. On New Year's, we watch parades and football games, maybe make some resolutions, and eat a lot more food. Some people sleep in because they stayed up late, or because they have a hangover from drinking too much the night before.

Thousands of years ago, Solomon wrote a book named Ecclesiastes. The observations he recorded in this ancient scroll are timely and relevant today. He wrote about human activity an pursuits being focused on things under the sun or under the heavens. Another way to say that would be people were focused on life without giving a thought to the God in the heavens.

As I listened to the talk about the recent election in the United States, a truth became clear to me. I heard people expressing why they were voting for a particular person, and I heard people give certain reasons why others should vote for a certain person. It seemed people had their top reasons for voting in a particular way. Everyone felt strongly about their reasons. The people who got elected were the ones who appealed to the most reasons people had. I suppose it is that way in every country where people get to vote for their leaders.

Have you ever wondered why people can become so divided and immovable in their divide? We see division all around us. We wonder why there seems to be no consensus about what we each think is clearly right. How is this possible?

If it is righteousness that exalts a nation, and if it is God who determines the boundaries and duration of nations, then it is vital that people of any nation seek God, learn his will and follow his ways.

I can remember the night clearly even though it happened over 45 years ago. I went bowling with some friends. I didn’t have much money, but I had a enough to go bowling and to buy something to drink. I also had a $20 bill in my pocket. That didn’t happen much. (It actually hasn’t happened a lot since.) we had left the bowling alley and gone to McDonalds. Somewhere in that parking lot in reached into my pocket and accidentally pulled out my $20. It fell out without my knowing it. It was only later, after we had left the restaurant, that I realized I had lost the $20.

Let’s take a moment and consider the current movement that pushes for sex changing surgeries for minors.The push is even taking place in public institutions like schools. Those in power in some places are pushing for teachers and parents to allow the children to choose to be referred to as the opposite sex, and even to have medications and surgeries to change their bodies to the opposite sex. It seems some adults in schools are promoting this view, even pushing to keep parents uninformed of what their children are being told and being encouraged to do. There even has been attempts to pass laws to make this easier for children to do without parental consent.

In the proverbs of God there is some wise advice we will find timely: “Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly (Proverbs 17:12). To understand this proverb, you need to understand what a “fool” is in the book of proverbs. The fool is any person who refuses to listen to God and follow his commands. We see the sense of that, because since God created and gives life, so he knows the best way to live. His commands instruct us how to live that best life, so anyone would be foolish not to listen and follow his teachings.

In 1967, Louis Armstrong recorded a song entitled “What a Wonderful World.” Beautiful song with a great title; however, we might not believe it to be an accurate assessment of life on this planet. Watch or listen to daily news and you won’t walk away with that thought. Look at the problems in your family, school, workplace, community, city, state or country and you will likely think we come up short. Wouldn’t it be great, though, if this could be a wonderful world in every aspect?