Snappy Answers

            An old story is told about a truck driver who was driving along on the freeway.  A highway sign appeared on the side of the road that read, “Low Bridge Ahead.”

            Before he knew it, the bridge was right ahead of the driver, and he got stuck under the bridge.

            Traffic backed up for miles.  Finally, a police car arrived and the officer got out of his car and walked up to the truck driver. He put his hand on his hips and said, “Got stuck, huh?”

            The truck driver came back with a snappy answer, “No, I was just delivering this bridge and ran out of gas.”

            Funny, but it probably did not help him with the cop.

            Someday, you and I will be standing before an even greater authority figure. When asked about our hope for eternity, it will not be the time for snappy answers. As a matter fact, one word would surely do—Jesus.

A Bear Story

18You look forward to the day when the LORD comes to judge.

   But you are in for trouble!

   It won't be a time of sunshine; all will be darkness.

    19You will run from a lion, only to meet a bear… (Amos 5:18-19.) CEV

            Over a decade ago, OUR DAILY BREAD included a funny story:

            Two hunters came across a bear so big that they dropped their rifles and ran for cover. One man climbed a tree while the other hid in a nearby cave. The bear was in no hurry to eat, so he sat down between the tree and the cave to reflect upon his good fortune.

            Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, the hunter in the cave came rushing out, almost ran into the waiting bear, hesitated, and then dashed back in again.

            The same thing happened a second time. When he emerged for the third time, his companion in the tree frantically called out, “Woody, are you crazy? Stay in the cave till he leaves!”

            “Can’t,” panted Woody, “there’s another bear in there.”

            The Bible says that a similar kind of dilemma will someday come upon the godless. They will find trouble in the very place they run for safety (Amos 5:18).            

            According to the prophet Amos, these people may be religious, and even long for the coming of the Lord, without realizing that His arrival will present for them the greatest problem of all—judgment of their wrongdoing.

            … [Applying this text to today,] a person who never puts his faith in the Lamb of God (John 1:29) will one day find that the Lamb will be unto him like a lion on one side and a bear on the other (Hos. 13:7,8). There will be no place to hide. 

Whatever Your Hand Finds to Do, Do It With All of Your Might

Two men invented the telephone. One was a professional inventor; the other was a high school teacher, who worked in his spare time.  The reason we hold up Alexander Graham Bell today as the inventor of the telephone is because he beat Elisha Gray to the U. S. Patent office by two hours.

Ira Flatow writes that Elisha Gray’s sketches reveal that he had basically the same idea as Bell. However, as a professional inventor, he did not see his invention as a lucrative endeavor; it was merely a toy. Consequently, he dawdled.  Were Elisha Gray more diligent; perhaps, Don Ameche would have played him in a Hollywood motion picture, rather than Alexander Graham Bell.

It was Thomas Jefferson who wrote, “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.” His words remind me of Prov. 14:23, “Hard work always pays off; mere talk puts no bread on the table” [THE MESSAGE]. Procrastination is not a good quality.

This does not merely apply to work. God calls for us to respond to him immediately. The judgment day is coming. We may not have tomorrow.

Furthermore, ignoring God’s teachings hurts us today. God calls us to do as He says—now—not because He wants to rob us of a good time, but so we can experience life to the fullest. He created us and He knows the greatest way to live. Any delay in following God’s instruction, means a delay in recovering from our own self-destruction.