MAKING THE CONNECTION…

It’s a common mis conception about life but the truth is, you only get one shot at this thing! There is the popular notion held in high regard by certain belief systems that are widely embraced by many in the public eye that you have as many chances as you need to get it right. Certain religions aspire to the thinking that says if you don’t get it right the first time, just do better in the next life and eventually you’ll arrive…. where I’m not sure, but you’ll get there! According to Wikipedia, “Reincarnation, literally "to be made flesh again", is a doctrine or metaphysical belief that some essential part of a living being (in some variations only human beings) survives death to be reborn in a new body. This essential part is often referred to as the spirit or soul, the "higher" or "true" self, "divine spark", or "I". According to such beliefs, a new personality is developed during each life in the physical world, but some part of the self remains constant throughout the successive lives. Belief in reincarnation is an ancient phenomenon. This doctrine is a central tenet within the majority of Indian religious traditions, such as Hinduism (including Yoga, Vaishnavism, and Shaivism), Jainism, and Sikhism. Many modern Pagans also believe in reincarnation as do some New Age movements, along with followers of Spiritism, practitioners of certain African traditions, and students of esoteric philosophies such as Kabbalah, Sufism and Gnostic and Esoteric Christianity.” The problem is, according to the Bible it ain’t so! I don’t care what Shirley McLain says; she isn’t coming back as a princess, an insect, or a brick for that matter! Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”. So what brought this to your mind Tim?
Glad you asked. Back in 2001 construction began on the U.S, Grant Bridge connecting South Shore Kentucky with downtown Portsmouth Ohio. I would drive by day after day on my way to the church office. Watching the new span under construction was amazing. It took a few years to finish this project. Construction was expected to be complete in June of 2004, but work fell behind schedule due to inclement weather, unusual flooding of the Ohio River, and the partial sinking of a floating construction barge, which carried one of the cranes, used to work on the center span of the bridge. The date of completion was moved to October 16, 2006. What was most amazing to me was how that the spans would come together to meet perfectly in mid air to complete the bridge. “Check out picture's on my bog”. There was no room for error here. It had to come together perfectly. The price that would be paid, the time that it took to bring it to completion, the benefit it would produce. Listen to Paul’s words from the Galatian letter “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” God went to a lot of effort to make connection with us. So, how’s your life lining up? Are you connected to Him? Are you aiming in the right direction? A bridge not lining up would be a catastrophe for sure, but a life missing the connection with God would be an even greater tragedy!
Listen in with me to a conversation between Jesus and a religious leader in His day…. “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.” Not far, did you hear that?
True story, in November 1975, 75 convicts started digging a secret tunnel designed to bring them up at the other side of the wall of Saltillo Prison in northern Mexico. On April 18, 1976, guided by pure genius, they tunneled up into the nearby courtroom in which many of them had been sentenced. The surprised judges returned all 75 to jail! Thomas a Kempis in his book Imitation of Christ wrote, “Thou oughtest so to order thyself in all thy thoughts and actions, as if today thou wert about to die. Labor now to live so, that at the hour of death thou mayest rather rejoice than fear. There are many lives that are not far from God’s Kingdom today. Almost connected, almost lined up. And the tragedy is, close isn’t enough! Are you connected to the Lord today?