Scripture
Your wounds cannot be healed and your injury is fatal; all who hear of your fate clap their hands in joy. Who has not suffered from your relentless cruelty?
~Nahum 3:19, REB
Quote
There are two great days in YOUR LIFE, the day that you were born and the day you discovered why!
~William Barclay
Very few of us are destined for greatest, at least as the world defines greatness. Most of us will never be independently wealthy, score the winning TD, be invited to the White House or become a star in the field of entertainment. The good news is: God uses a different standard to measure success. His standard is really very simple, there are two thing you do that determine your greatest: [1] You love God with all your heart and [2] You love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. If you do these two things, you will be great in His kingdom. God is not influenced by how much money you make or by the world’s influence; His judgment is based on our hearts and our love for Him and others.
The above verse comes from the Prophet Nahum and he is referring to the Assyrians. The Assyrian were known from the brutality and cruelty. They were a nation of savages. They made their living by stealing. When they came calling, they killed, tortured, raped, enslaved and took everything of value back to their hideout. When Nineveh fell, it was full of loot or stolen treasures. Nineveh didn’t help anyone unless there was something in it for them. They were a nation of narcissistic butchers. They were totally absorbed in there on interest and they never helped anyone.
A part from the cruelty, a lot of folks live like the Assyrians: they live for themselves and are totally absorbed in their own interest. Everyone hated the Assyrians and so a group of nations allied together and built an earthen dam across the Tigris River. When the rain came, this flooded the Khosr river which ran through the great city. The constant force of the water did what no one had been able to do, it caused the section of the wall around the river gate to collapse. The allied forces were ready and waiting. Nineveh was caught off guard and the city fell. Nahum describes the horror that the Assyrians experienced.
Not only did their chickens come home to roost as the Assyrians got treated as they had treated others but no one cared. Everyone was cheering their demise. The Assyrians who had never shown mercy were shown no mercy. You live for yourself and you will die by yourself. Help a neighbor today because tomorrow it may be you that needs help.
Maybe, just maybe yesterday was our last 98 degree day of the year but I wouldn’t bet on it.