Climbing or Slipping?

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God

— Colossians 1:9–10

 

A father was talking with his daughter and her five-year-old-friend, Kristin, about birthdays. As it turned out, Kristin's birthday was just three days after his birthday. So he said to the little girl, "You know what, Kristin? Our birthdays are only three days apart!"

She looked at him for a moment and said, "Yeah, but you grew much faster than I did."

What Matters in the End

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

— 2 Timothy 4:7

 

When Paul wrote the words of his final epistle from the Mamertine Prison in Rome, he knew that his time on earth was coming to an end. He had faithfully proclaimed the Good News, and though he had been warned that he would be arrested if he kept preaching the gospel, he persisted. So he found himself chained up in that miserable, primitive, little place, all alone.

Live Wisely

"Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom"

— Psalm 90:12

 

Let's say that tomorrow morning you got a call from the president of your bank, and he told you that an anonymous donor who loved you very much would be depositing 86,400 pennies into your bank account every day. The only condition is that you will have to spend all of the money. You can't carry it over from one day to the next, and what isn't spent will be taken away. When you take out your calculator, you realize that it amounts to a lot of money each year.