Today people will come to church hoping to hear a patriotic message. They will want to sing "God Bless America," say the Pledge of Allegiance and wave their flags. There is nothing wrong with these things but they do not get us to the heart of what we need to remember.
We need to remember the families who lost loved ones ten years ago. It is easy for them to become victims with others wanting to use them as spokespeople for their own causes. They are paraded across the television screens as a means of being used for ratings rather than truly remembering what they have lost.
We need to remember that Muslims are not our enemies. Christians should know this. We don't agree with the Islamic faith but its followers are not our enemies. The enemy is much more devious and evil.
Ephesians 6:12 (NIV) 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
We need to remember that our days are numbered. The victims of September 11 went to work thinking they would come home. They had calendars with future dates on them. They did not expect this to be the last day of their lives.
Psalm 39:4 (NIV) 4 "Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.
We need to remember that tomorrow is not promised. So many people are putting off what they know they must do. They have no idea that they may not be able to put it off.
James 4:13-14 (NIV) 13 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
We need to remember that today is all that we have. Today is the day you should tell those you love that you love them. Today is the day you should forgive and ask for forgiveness. Today is the day of salvation for you may not have tomorrow.
Hebrews 3:13 (NIV) 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
These are the lessons that 911 should have taught us as Christians. Life is precious and those whom we love are precious. We should, therefore, take advantage of every moment and do what we must as if we shall see our Savior that day.
Now imagine that today is all that you have? How will you spend it? What do you need to do?
1 comment:
I like your compilation of the verses from Scripture to remind us of how fleeting our life is. It is easy for us to forget we are to live day by day, with the over-exhorting by the world for us to always amass for tomorrow, and always to be striving for a better tomorrow on earth. Indeed when we wake up tomorrow, it may very well be that we are no longer in this earthly world.
Get right with God daily.
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