A Fresh Start

A FREST START

2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Oh how many times have I wished, with all my heart, that things could have been different!

Lord, why has there been so much suffering and heartache in the past years? Could not things have been different?

Why, Lord, did we have to face such terrible trials and tests in the past year alone? Some have lost their loved ones. Did it have to be so? I know that you never intended for death to be a part of our experience in this life? Why must those we love leave this earthly realm, sometimes after suffering long illnesses and so much pain?

Many more have had to suffer through physical pain, emotional stress, problems in family relationships, and financial difficulties. I know that it was never in your plan for mankind to suffer such things.

Oh how I desire to see the end of pain, suffering and death!

Then Lord, there are families who have turned against one another. Children who refuse to speak to their parents and parents who once felt such love for their new baby have lost that love and now they want nothing to do with their children anymore. Our society is unraveling at the seams and the ideals that held us together as people are quickly disappearing.

Respect for other people has given way to cold-heartedness and utter disregard. No one gives a thought to what the things that they are doing, or may do, will affect other people. Self-centeredness has become the overwhelming condition of the hearts of men and women. It’s all about me, myself and I. The attitude of the day is, “You only matter as far as you are able to make me happy.”

Lord, I wish it could be different. I long for the days when people really were courteous and when respect for others made us consider whether we should do what we wanted to or not.

Care and concern for the hurting, the elderly and the shut-in are almost non-existent. Oh we have our programs, our government entitlements and our benevolence foundations, but most are far more concerned with balancing the books and making money than they are about real needs of real people. It’s all a money game. If there was no money to be made, I doubt that anyone would ever see a doctor or receive any kind of aid anymore.

I know that this is a cynical view of society, but it faces the cold, hard reality of our times.

The fact is that we are living in the last days of time, as we know it. Jesus said these words concerning our generation in Matthew 24:12, "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold."

Those words, spoken nearly 2000 years ago still ring true. True love, is a scarce commodity in our world today. There is love but not the love of God that gives without expecting anything or demanding anything in return.

The kind of love that mankind exhibits today, always comes with a price tag that determines whether that love will be given or not. I will love you, but only if you love me in return. I will love you, but only if you satisfy my needs and desires and make me happy. I will love you, until you don’t fulfill my expectations. Then my love will turn into disgust, and even into hate, and we will go our separate ways. The commitment to love one another hangs on a thread of happiness. When the thread of happiness is broken, love goes out the door and the commitment is broken.

Oh how I wish things could be different! I long for the day when true love will reign in the hearts of men, but that day seems to be so very far away.

And what of the wars and fighting that are rampant in our world? One of the greatest desires of mankind is that there is peace and safety.

The Apostle Paul spoke concerning this desire and what it would be like for those who would live in these days.

1 Thessalonians 5:2-3, "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape."

Lord, I know that all of these things must come to pass. I know that your Word cannot fail. But, God, why does it have to be so? Can’t things be different? Can’t we have peace again?

Every day there are American lives being lost on foreign fields as we do our best to maintain and protect what little peace we have, but that peace still doesn’t exist in our nation.