July 27, 2020
I have not written a morning devotion for the past 2 weeks. As you know, I had a stomach virus 2 weeks ago and then last week I was on vacation with my family. Now that I’m back home I will try to keep on with our morning devotions at least as long as we’re not able to have full services at the church with this pandemic going on. I hope these are a blessing to you in your daily lives and be careful out there, we love you and look forward to the day when we can get back in church full time.
When you visit a cemetery, you are usually there to visit the grave of a loved one who has passed on from this life into eternity. As we are there visiting the grave of our loved one, we usually take a little time and look at some of the headstones in the cemetery. Each headstone represents a person’s life while here on this earth. Each stone will have engraved on it the person’s name, the date of their birth and the date of their death, but have you ever paid attention to the “dash (-)” between those two dates. The “dash” represents that individual’s entire life here on earth. Some only lived a short time here while others lived a good long life.
Have you ever taken the time to consider what you are doing with your “dash”? That “dash” only lasts a short time no matter how long you may live here in this life. (James 4:14) Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. So, with that thought in mind I would like for us to take some time this morning to consider what we are doing with our “dash”.
For many of us, our lives consist of doing what I would call busy work. Our days are filled up with running from one chore to the next and we never seem to have enough time to get everything accomplished the way we would like. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time to do all the things we desire to get done and then one day we wake up and our life is in the rearview mirror and we wonder where has the time gone. Then as we begin to survey over our past life, we see so many things that we worked so hard to accomplish that in the scheme of things really didn’t make much of a difference.
I was fortunate enough in my early adulthood to have a wise Sunday School teacher who was quite a bit older than the rest of our class and he taught us that when we come down to the end of our life the only things that will really matter is what we have done with the Lord and to help other people. This man is in heaven now, but I believe that he truly exemplified these words that he taught us. He had accepted Christ as his personal savior and served as the chairman of the deacons at our church. He was a faithful Sunday School teacher always studying the word of God and back in those days we didn’t use literature. Our lessons came directly from the Bible and he would take a book and go through it, chapter and verse. He was blessed to be able to use his talents to help meet others needs without expecting anything in return. I know he helped me and Jahala with some home repairs when we couldn’t afford to pay him anything for his labor and he never expected anything. I had the privilege of helping him and other men from the church on similar projects on other people’s homes down through the years. He was a great leader of men and organized us in getting these projects completed.
So, as we consider the “dash” that is our own life let us ask ourselves the questions, “Have you given your life over to Jesus Christ and accepted him as Lord and Savior?”, “Are you taking the time to serve the Lord in whatever capacity He has called you for service? Or, are you too busy working on things that at the end of life really won’t matter?” and “What are you doing to help others?” If we will fill up our “dash” serving the Lord and others, when we reach the end of the journey, we’ll have much less to regret. (Matthew 6:19-21) Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
(Matthew 25:34-40) Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.…
