imakelar

Life Is Short

Life is short, we are just born and soon we have to die. Because life is very short, we don’t have much time to enjoy life. Therefore, as long as there is time, use this short life to play and have fun. Many people adhere to this philosophy and choose to have fun in their lives.

Solomon, as the wisest king who ever lived, advised the younger generation that they are free to have fun while living, but that the time will come when they will be held accountable for what they do on the day of judgment.

“Rejoice, young man, in your youth, let your heart rejoice in your youth, and obey the desires of your heart and the gaze of your eyes, but know that because of all these things God will bring you to justice!”

Life is short. What are our priorities Do we choose to have fun and play with this life? Stop playing, start praying. Stop feasting, start fasting. Seek God more. Use our lives for something positive and seek God always.

Only God Is Good

“I said to the LORD: ‘You are my God, nothing can be good for me but You!”

If an adult admits that only God is good, then it raises questions about his or her parents — his or her father and mother, as well as his or her extended family; are they bad?

Does he or she have no friends? Friends are usually people who treat others well even though others do bad things. The friend helps, sustains, protects, and accompanies this life, at least, is there when it is needed.

Life can only last if there are good people who take care of it. The more good people, the more prosperous this life will be, if everyone is good, then the earth has become heaven. Be a good person so that heaven is with you.

Only God is good, meaning that only people who are close to God can continue God’s goodness in this world, humans with their own inclination of heart are generally creatures who are prone to doing evil. Be grateful to all that is good to you so that you stay alive and thank God because it is God Himself who preserves your life through the good people in your life. Let your kindness be known to all.

Don’t Be Like A Fool

“As snow in summer and rain in harvest, so honor is not worthy of a fool.”

No one wants to be called or dubbed a fool. Most likely he will be angry and offended if he is spoken of as a fool, because talking about foolish people always refers to people who seem unable to change their lives anymore, their hearts are very hard (stony) because they do not want to accept advice and reprimands. Of course, we all don’t want and don’t want to be called stupid people, but whether we realize it or not, we often behave the same way as foolish people.

Foolish people are people who do not want and find it difficult to accept advice and rebuke from God or from others. He always feels himself as a righteous person and has never done anything wrong, therefore he looks for various reasons to always justify himself and feels that he does not need to be taught and tutored by others. He thought that it was someone else who had to change, not him.

An ignorant person is a person who never wants to learn from experience, so he repeatedly makes the same mistakes, but never realizes or pretends to be unconscious. The writer of Proverbs states, “As a dog returns to his vomit, so is a fool who repeats his folly.“

Foolish people are people who even though they have understood the truth, are taught about the truth, they still live astray from the truth. Even if they know that something is not to be done, they still do what is forbidden: “To be impure is the hobby of fools.” Living in ignorance is the door to the destruction of life.

The Sun Of Truth

“…, the sun of truth will rise for you with healing in its wings. You will come out and prance like a calf out of a cage.”

The rising sun is an image of renewed hope for mankind. After sleeping at night, it’s time to carve all the works as the sun continues to roll and is there until the sun reaches its bed. The sun of righteousness is a call to start the day by being righteous and fill the whole day (whole life) as righteous.

The sun of truth rises because it is published by God and not forged by humans. Truth will only exist if man surrenders to God, making God’s will first. The sun of truth brings healing to its wings, all its movements will heal the ills of man and his humanity. Truth is the medicine of life.

The sun of truth brings joy and relief and opportunities for new adventures, like a calf released from a stable; prancing. “Lead me to walk in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God who saves me, I wait for You all day long.”

“A calm heart refreshes the body, but envy rots the bones.”

Calm is something from within, not from without. Tranquility does not depend on the situation but governs the situation. The command to calm down is usually primarily addressed to a crowded group of people because everyone is talking at the same time, being noisy. Characteristics of calm people are those who don’t talk nonsense. Talking a lot is okay if everything is necessary and constructive when said; soothing words.

Calm also often means a person who can stay still, stay in place for a long time or at least manage his life’s actions as gently as possible. On a cold night, a person who remains calm, does not move much, then he will not be cold because the body gets used to it and the body responds to the stimulus by sending more heat to the body. This is an example of calm that refreshes the body.

“A calm heart refreshes the body, but envy rots the bones.” In this verse, the cause of restlessness is envy, jealousy of others. The envy whispers the bones, paralyzing the life force; bring many diseases to the body; take care of your life and be calm with no envy.

If You Could Choose, Who Would You Choose To Be?

George Bernard Shaw (Dublin 26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950 in Hertfordshire) was an Irish novelist, critic, essayist, politician and orator based in England. In 1925, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. He then donated all the Nobel prizes to the Anglo-Swedish literary foundation.

A few days before he died, he was interviewed by a reporter. The reporter asked, “Mr Shaw, in your life you have met some of the world’s most famous people. You have been friends with kings, famous writers, artists, and teachers. If only you could come back to life and you could choose a famous person you know. or a person in history, who would you choose?” He replied firmly, “I will choose to be George Bernard Shaw with all my unfulfilled desires.”

What would our attitude be if we were given the freedom to become a famous figure? A big businessman, movie star, sportsman, or big politician. Don’t ever think about being someone else. Determined to be ourselves, by using the maximum of all our potential. “and set yourselves an example in doing good.”

Against God

“Listen to advice and receive instruction, so that you may become wise in the future.”

Our Lord is a really very good God, He always cares for and loves us. When we are weak and helpless God comes through the Holy Spirit to strengthen us; when we are in trouble His Spirit is there to comfort us. But there are times when God has to be tough on us, that is to rebuke and if necessary ‘beat’ us: “Whoever I love, I rebuke and I chastise; therefore relax your heart and repent.”

God is hard on us not without reason. Because “…when I came there was no one, and when I called no one answered”. When God comes to us, we don’t care, and when He calls, we don’t answer, that’s when God will be tough on us so that we immediately realize the mistakes we have made.

If God educates us harshly through “punishing or beating”, it doesn’t mean He doesn’t love us, instead He shows His care, His love, and His responsibility for our lives, because He doesn’t want us to stray further from the path.

His way. Just as a father punishes when his child is stubborn and doesn’t want to obey, so a heavenly Father if we have been told, reminded, advised, and gently rebuked, still hardens our hearts and doesn’t want to listen. “He who does not use a stick hates his son; but he who loves his son chastises him in time.”

It is not the death of the wicked that God wants, but their repentance, therefore He is patient. When God beats and beats us, it means He has a beautiful plan behind it all. “For He is the one who wounds, but also binds up; He who beats, but whose hand also heals.”

When we go down the wrong path, the Holy Spirit speaks softly to us to remind us. Do not harden your heart when rebuked and warned, because it is for the good of our lives. God must be tough on us because He doesn’t want us to play with sin and experience destruction

Overcoming The Storms Of Life Like The Eagle.

One of the Eagle’s life habits that become more valuable is flying soaring. This is the unique life habit of the eagle, which other birds may not do, which is to always fly high above the storm, not in or under the storm. That is the character that believers should have: having the courage to face storms of trouble.

But in the practice of everyday life many of us are drowned in storms. We are so easily defeated by situations or circumstances that make us more frustrated, disappointed, hopeless, lose joy and peace, finally we experience defeat after defeat.

In addition, the Eagle has another unique habit of building nests on high hills: “It dwells and nests in rocky hills, on rocky hilltops and in hard-to-reach mountains.” . Most birds make their nests on tree branches, but eagles build their nests on high hills, so the nest will be safe and out of reach of anyone.

It speaks of the life of the person who made God a refuge. On His rock we are safe and protected. Therefore, there is no need to be afraid to face the storms of this life because we have God as a high refuge.

Not everyone can climb to the high mountain of God. “‘Who may go up to the mountain of the LORD Who may stand in his holy place’ One who has clean hands and pure heart, who has not given himself up to deception, and who has not sworn falsely.”

With God, the righteous will fly like eagles, overcoming the storms of life.

He Never Sleep

A mother takes her 4 year old daughter to bed. The child is afraid of the dark. When the lights were turned off, the girl noticed the moon shining through the window.

“Mom,” she asked, “is that God’s lamp?”

“That’s right, honey,” said her mother.

She then asked again, “Will He turn off His light and sleep too?”

“Oh no, He never sleeps, honey.”

After a moment of silence, the girl said,

“As long as God doesn’t sleep, I’m not afraid.”

Realizing that God will always take care of him, the girl soon fell into a sound sleep.

In life, we can confidently surrender ourselves all day long to our faithful God. He is well aware that we are afraid to be in the dark, but also frustrated in the light. We can be sure that He is always protecting. His loving eyes and protective hands always surround us.

Maybe right now we are lonely because of suffering from illness or the loss of a loved one. In such situations, the shadows of the night magnify our anxiety than ever before. Doubt increases and fear suffocates our soul, so that we cannot rest properly.

“I will lie down in peace and go to sleep soon, for you alone, O LORD, have allowed me to dwell in safety.”

Put your trust in God. Remember, He is always awake.

A Drunk Young Man

A young man who was heavily drunk was rowing a boat moored on the bank of a river. He wanted to return to his village across the river. Drunkenness made him not realize that the boat was still tied to a rope tied with wood on the river bank.

With all his might and difficulty, the young man rowed his boat. Slowly the boat began to move. Because it is tied with a rope tied with wood on the river bank, the boat moves as far as the length of the rope. The young man was increasingly trying to row his boat to get to his house quickly. Drowsiness and tiredness put him to sleep.

When he wakes up and wakes up from his hangover, it turns out that he is still in the boat and hasn’t gone anywhere. The young man released the rope that tied his boat and began to row the boat again. Finally he arrived safely at his house.

Sometimes our lives are like that young man. We have tried our best to row the boat of life to go in a better direction. However, like that young man, our efforts are in vain and a waste of time and energy if our minds are still tied to bad past experiences, full of failures, fears, disappointments, worries, feelings of accusation, feelings of unworthiness, and feelings of guilt. other negative feelings.

In addition, the negative words we hear from others about us and even our comfort zones can be a very powerful “rope” to hinder our progress in God. “Everyone who is ready to plow but looks back is not worthy of the kingdom of God.” This means that God wants us to no longer be bound by our past. God longs to bring us to experience the fulfillment of His promises. It is His will for us to experience the best in life. Learn from the experience of the young man.

We cannot move forward if the boat of our life is still tied behind us. Let’s untie the “rope” that binds our boat of life and move forward to experience the best of God.