The Brevity of Life

    The court jester was overcome with grief. His world was at an end!
    For a long time he had served the Caliph at Baghdad and his court, keeping them amused whenever they called upon him. But in a moment of thoughtlessness he had displeased his ruler who had ordered that he be put to death.
    "However," said the Caliph, "in consideration o the merry jests you've told me all these years, I will let you choose ho you are to die."
    "O most generous Caliph," replied the jester, "if it's all the same to you, I choose death by old age."

Source:
Unknown.

How To Have A Winning Day

Listen more than you talk.
Give more than you get.
Smile more than you frown.
Think "we" more than "me."
Agree more than you disagree.
Compliment more than you criticize.
Laugh more than you cry.
Clean up more than you mess up
Be positive more than you're negative.
Be fascinated more than you're frustrated.
"Walk the walk" more than you "talk the talk."
Be more accepting than rejecting.
See the cup "half full" more than seeing it "half empty."
Help more than you hinder.
Believe in yourself more than doubt yourself.
Work more than you whine.
Do more than you don't.
Act more than you react.
Same more than you squander.

Source:
The Encourager, the weekly bulletin of the Calvert City Church of Christ, Calvert City, KY, Feb. 10, 2002, p. 3.

Now

If you have hard work to do,
Do it now.
Today the skies are clear and blue,
Tomorrow clouds may come in view,
Yesterday is not for you;
Do it now.

If you have a song to sing,
Sing it now.
Let the tone of gladness ring
Clear as a song of birds in Spring
Let each day some music bring;
Sing it now

If you have kind words to say,
Say them now.
Tomorrow may not come your way,
Do a kindness, while you may
Loved ones would not always stay;
Say them now.

If you have a smile to show,
Show it now.
Make hearts happy, roses grow,
Let the friends around you know
The love you have before they go;
Show it now.

Source:
The Encourager, the weekly bulletin of the Calvert City Church of Christ, Calvert City, KY, Feb. 10, 2002, p. 2. 

Just in Case

If I knew that tomorrow there would be no dawn on earth for me;
    That I should have gone in the dark of night into eternity,
I should do so many things for those I love.
    But, oh, I should be happy too, with those above!

So - just in case I might be viewing morning in celestial skies,
    Lord, bring me those who need my love today.
For otherwise the night may close a door on words I meant to say.
    And morning find my empty house - with me away.

Source:
Source:
The Sower, Sharpe Church of Christ, Benton, KY, November 5, 2000.

Not Too Short

By David A. Sargent

    In 2008, a group of students from Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, TN, traveled to the Dominican Republic for a Spring Break mission trip. The group conducted a Vacation Bible School program at a children’s home in Bobita.
    After their final day of work at the children’s home, team members spent some time relaxing at the beach.  Then tragedy struck … Shane Ruiz, 19, and two other students were walking along the beach in knee-deep water when they were hit by a large wave.  Shane was swept out into the ocean by a strong undertow. Team members and Dominicans on the beach spent the next three hours attempting to rescue Shane, but were unable to reach him. **
    Dr. Ralph Gilmore, Bible professor at F-HU, relayed these events to the chapel assembly at the Faulkner University Lectureship in Montgomery, AL.  With great emotion, he told how that as many desperately sought to save Shane, “their arms were just too short to save him.”  They could not reach him.
    Dr. Gilmore quoted Isaiah 59:1-2 – “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”
    The reality is that because of our sins, WE are separated from God and lost.  The undertow of sin is too strong for us to save ourselves.  Even our friends and loved ones can’t save us.  Thus we are doomed.
    “But the arm of the Lord is not too short to save!”  God loves us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to save us from our sins (John 3:16).  In order to save us, Jesus gave His life for us.  He died on the cross to rescue us from sin (Ephesians 1:7).  He was the only One who could save us, for He was and is the sinless Son of God!
    God WILL save those who will: place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3-4).
    That’s why.... Shane and his Christian co-workers were in the Dominican Republic during that Spring Break in 2008: to tell those who were lost in sin that God’s arm is not too short to save!
     That’s the Good News (the Gospel) for us, too!  No matter how deeply we have sunk into sin, God’s arm is not too short to save us.  We must simply reach out to His extended hand through our trusting obedience.
     Won’t YOU?

Source:
David A. Sargent, minister for the Church of Christ at Creekwood in Mobile, Alabama, is also the editor of an electronic devotional entitled Living Water."  To learn more about this excellent resource contact David via their website: http://www.creekwoodcc.org