Disaster in Joplin

It breaks your heart when you see the devastation in Joplin caused by a tornado. It looks like an atom bomb went off. As we saw recently in the South, tornadoes have done tremendous damage. People have lost loved ones, and often everything they own. You wonder how Joplin, and other towns devastated by tornadoes and floods, will ever come back. Where do you begin to rebuild?

It’s obvious that the things of this world are fleeting. If we don’t lose them when we’re alive, we’ll certainly lose them when we depart this life. As they say, “You can’t take it with you.”

Because of this, we should hold loosely to the things of this life. Don’t become so attached that you no longer own them, but they own you. Give generously to charities, your church, or your synagogue. Spend time reading the Bible and praying, for in doing so you are investing in the future – a future in heaven. Do good works, not only because it feels good to do so, but because you will store up treasure in heaven by doing them in obedience to God’s call for you.

Life on this earth can be hard, unfair, and painful. This beautiful planet can turn deadly in the form of hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, and volcanoes. We ask “Why?” and there is no good answer. The only real hope we have is faith in a God we only dimly understand, and the expectation of a better future in the afterlife. Although the world didn’t end on May 21, the End Times will come, maybe in your lifetime. Will you be ready? Are you one of God’s own, or is God not an important part of your life? As I read the Bible, you won’t get to heaven because your grandparents were good Christians, or because you are an American, or because you attended religious instruction as a kid, and not because you are a “good person”.

God gave us the one foolproof way to get to heaven, that’s through faith in his Son. You may want to think about that as we see a nearly continuous stream of destruction these days. Who knows? Maybe the End is closer than we think. Will you be ready?