Pastors Devotion

THIS WEEK´S THOUGHT

WHERE WERE YOU?

I was in Birmingham, AL when the news broke that one of the Twin Towers in NYC had been hit by an airplane.  At first, I imagined a small engine plane; assuming a pilot had flown too close to the buildings while giving some people a too-upclose view of the city.  Then, it became clear it wasn´t a small aircraft but a jet-liner filled with people.  My heart sank.  I have a tendency to internalize things way too much anyway, but I couldn´t help but wonder what those folks were thinking in the last few minutes of their lives.

Over the course of the next few hours, my emotions would run wild.  I was riveted to the TV.  I watched as one report after another carried tales of tragic losses of lives and the destruction of families dreams and hopes.  Finally, having experienced all the trauma I could take, my heart began to long for all my kids to be home and safe around me.

That´s the emotions events surrounding September 11, 2001 produced.  The whole nation waited anxiously for a word from our President, not only to explain what had happened and why, but maybe even more importantly, to tell us what we were going to do in response.  In the meantime, we prayed; we huddled together; and, we hoped.

That might be the closest we´ll ever come as Christians to the feelings the lost will have on Judgment Day, as we were stricken by the sense of not being in control or safe anymore.  Our world had been rocked like we hadn´t felt as a nation since December 7, 1941.  Shortly after the events of that fateful morning six decades earlier, the President addressed the nation with a reassuring and confident tone in his voice when he said: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."

But there will be no reassurance for the lost on Judgment Day.  No President will approach a microphone to calm the hearts of the fearful.  It will be a tragedy of far greater proportions as literally millions will hear the pronouncement that will ring in their ears and haunt them forever - "Be gone from me, you who did iniquity; I never knew you!"

What will make that day even more of a tragedy is the knowledge no one should have been condemned.  Jesus paid the price for all of them to be saved from the wrath of God, yet they failed to find faith in Him.  Some deliberately turned their hearts away.  Others delayed the decision they knew they needed to make too long.  Still others had no one to lovingly explain God´s plan of salvation to them.

Any time someone dies unexpectedly, it´s very disturbing event.  I would love for our world to make such a huge turn-around where such events would never again be experienced by any one or any family.  Even more importantly, I pray that we will all be ever more sensitive to the spiritual plight of those around us and readily respond to the Holy Spirit when He prompts us to share the gospel with them. 

Losing one´s life is a tragic thing, but it pales in comparison to losing one´s eternity.     

Dr. Ron