Scripture

 When I look up into the night skies and see the work of Your fingers—the moon and the stars You have made— I cannot understand how You can bother with mere puny man, to pay any attention to him!

~Psalm 8:34, TLB

Quote

Remember: When you take things for granted, the things you take for granted could be taken from you.

~Phil Hennessy

David was a shepherd in his early years which means he watched the flocks by night. When you sleep under the canopy of heaven, you tend to notice the stars. When was the last time you spend any amount of time looking up at the stars? It is not a big deal, right? After all they are visible almost every night. The stars are one of God’s faithful witnesses but what if the stars appeared every 25 years; would you make a special effort to stay up and gaze at these wondrous lights? The stars are just one of many things we take for granted. Some ten years after my daddy was gone, Mother unburdened herself in my presence. She broke down and wept as she talked about daddy and how much she missed him. I was not the compassion son you think I am, I said, “Mother, I can believe what you are saying; all you and daddy did was fight. There was never a kind word between you.” She said, “I know that son, but I still miss him.”

We Americans are blessed with many things and one is the freedom of worship. You can go to church tonight if you want to but most of us take that freedom for granted. Christians is North Korea don’t have such a priviledge. I’m sure you own a bible but do you read it daily? Rarely does a day go by that I do not thank God for His word. I don’t even want to think about life without the WORD. I told you about Geoffrey Bull a few weeks ago but if you are like me, you have forgotten. Bull was an English missionary who went to China in the early part of the last century. He was there when the communist took over and they arrested Bull and put him in prison. They took his bible so for 40 months, Geoffrey had to quote the scriptures he remembered but he had no bible to study. The beatings, the brutality, the deprivation was bad but what hurt Bull the most was he didn’t have his bible. Bull survived and they gave him back his bible the day they released him. Bull was ecstatic; as soon as he put his hands on his bible, he felt a sense of release and gratitude like never before.

What do you take for granted? Your spouse, your freedom, your health, your ease and comfort, freedom to attend worship or your bible? A word of wisdom to the young: when people get taken for granted, it leads to emotional burnout; so if you have a spouse you want to keep, don’t take them for granted.

Extra

Lincoln was still in ICU yesterday but hoping to get out soon. Continue to pray for the Kallas family. My sister in Athens had her third round of chemo yesterday. Each round leaves her weaker. She is still eating which is a good sign. Pray also for Gregg and Traci. I think Gregg told me they were leaving on Saturday instead of Sunday. Hopefully, they will be there only three days this time. Also pray for Beth Jones.

Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.