Thursday Thoughts

I continue to get stronger as the days go. I’m in my 3rd week of radiation, my 4th week of steroids, and my 2nd week of chemotherapy. The only side affect is that I become more robust and handsome every day.

Now, hopefully I’ve made you laugh, and now I want to make you stop and think. (Sorry, this is just what I do.)

I always believed that people who had long illnesses would be the most prepared to “meet their maker.” I assumed that as the body became weaker, the more the mind could (would) focus on the spirit of Jesus. So, conversely, I thought those who died because of accident or injury were the ones who had to go before God with what they had; no less and no more.

The cancer that stalks me is a mouse compared to the lion of cancer that others have. But I just assumed that any diagnosis of the dreaded disease would cause me to take my soul even more serious than I do. I was sure that I would really focus on being the man God wanted me to be. However, what I have found is that I am just as tempted to sin today as I was before I knew there was cancer in my body. I believed that with the diagnosis I would become closer to God than before, that I would not be inclined to sin as I had in the past, and that I would leave this life “squeaky clean” having been given the chance to clean up prior to my exit cue. My relationship with God is certainly stronger now than before, but I made the conscious effort to repair that relationship a few years ago.

So, now my belief is this; as long as a man lives the temptation of sin is ever present. There does not seem to be a reprieve to the temptation. Satan, the chump, never lets up. He just keeps on and keeps on... trying to dig away at me. I suppose if my diagnosis was terminal with only a few days, weeks, or months left, that he would not ease up on me even then. Satan has no compassion.

My prayer for myself and for everyone else is that we recognize the lies Satan throws at us. I pray that we not fool ourselves into thinking that “we’ll have plenty of time” to give our lives to Jesus. None of us know when it will be our time to go to heaven's home, and some of us depend on a false sense of security (eg., excellent health or youth) to believe that we've got more time on earth than we may have. The only hour you know is yours for absolute certain, is the one you just finished. Turn to God. Trust him. The clock is ticking.

Grace & Peace,

Bob