Living in light of eternity

I suppose I was a deist. Roughly speaking I believed that God had created the world like a great watchmaker.  He had established the rules and regulations for all things, including humans.  I believed that if I lived according to His rules and regulations, I could have the best life possible (the summum bonum).  This seemed to work well until I reached college age.  A hard break-up taught me differently. It appeared that “playing by the rules” didn’t work that well.  It was at this point I changed directions.  I decided to forget about the rules and go my own way. Unfortunately, this didn’t work so well either.  My first year at the university was one of the darkest periods of my life.  I felt that life should offer more, but I couldn’t find it. Now I must clarify a bit.  When I say I had been playing by the rules, that wasn’t strictly true.  I had some very basic rules to follow- don’t hurt anyone else, try to be truthful, do what is ri...

  The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,“Therefore I have hope in Him.”   [1] (Lam 3:22-24) So what does it mean to “hope in Him”?   I suppose it’s a lot like faith.   We trust God’s faithfulness.   We trust in His goodness.   We hope in Him.   There are many things we can hope in.   This life promises financial stability, relationships that last, opportunity and achievements.   But none of these are foolproof.   The only truly reliable hope is in the LORD.   His very nature is secure, and the promises of His Word are sure.   The disappointment of placing our hope in earthly things can be quite overwhelming.   Hope deferred makes the heart sick , But desire fulfilled is a tree of life. (Prov 13:12) There is joy and peace when we hope in God. This sustains us through all the ups...

  In Psalm 51 David expresses his deep remorse and regret for his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite.   By way of reminder, he used his position as King to precipitate an adulterous relationship with Bathsheba and maneuvered to have Uriah her husband killed on the front lines in battle.   Nathan the prophet confronts him: ‘Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. (2 Samuel 12:9) And David repents.                Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord .” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. [1] (2 Sa 12:13) Fortunately, we have Psalm 51 as a more descriptive version of David’s repentance.   The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God...