Transformed Generation -- Only a Moment

Hello all,

Jennifer has posted an excellent reminder over on her "Transformed Generation" blog that we wanted to pass along to you for your benefit. Be sure to follow this link to Jennifer's post and leave her a comment if you like her post and feel so led. :-)

only a moment

It takes only a moment for your world to be washed away.
It takes only a moment for your world to be burned away.
It takes only a moment for your world to be blown away.
Only a moment...
Only a drop...
Only a spark...
Only a breeze...

I realized a couple of days ago that in a single moment life as I know it can change.

In one solitary moment,
floods can remove houses,
fires can burn fields,
tornadoes can uproot trees.

What you have in this life--your clothes, your laptop, your iPod, your "treasures"--will disappear one day. Eventually, everything you own will be gone, nothing more than a few pieces of rubble.

It's humbling to consider that.

Think about losing everything you own, all of your possessions. For myself, I hope that I would be wise enough to realize that none of it really matters. But what if you were to lose your best friend, or your mom and dad, or your sister? What then?

I don't want to instill paranoia in you, but sometimes I think we live our lives in an ignorant fashion. All too often, we think we are invincible and inhuman. We think we can't be touched by loss, death, or disease. But when we think that, we are lying to ourselves. Bad things happen in this world. Turn on the news and you'll see it.

Don't think you're untouchable.
It only takes one moment.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy,
and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where moth and rust do not destroy,
and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
(Matthew 6:19-21)

Reading Jennifer's post brought several additional scriptures to mind.

 ¹² So teach us to number our days,
         That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
          (Psalm 90:12, New King James Version)

   
¹⁵ See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, ¹⁶ redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
(Ephesians 5:15-16, New King James Version)

⁵ Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. (Colossians 4:5, New King James Version)

¹⁶ Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. ¹⁷ And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
²¹ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21, New King James Version)

What a challenge it is to read these passages, coupled with Jennifer's admonition, and realize more fully how wisdom is related to a redeeming of time, and how empty it is to devote our time to things of this world and not of God.

Many thanks to Jennifer! My prayer today is that we would number our days so that we can gain a heart of wisdom!

God bless!