"What Things?"

 "Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee." (S.O.S. 6:13a)

  There is something many people will agree with and say, something that you hear said from time to time: "There is always two sides to every story." Whatever it is that you might think that it is, you are most likely going to disagree with whatever disagrees with your side of the story. It is just human nature, to put it bluntly, it is just natural human behavior! Thus the title for today's enjoyment: "What Things?"

  Taken from the question Jesus asked, as the two men were communing together and reasoned about the events which just happened in Jerusalem; how tragic and unbelievable these events were, and how it could have even been allowed to happen: How could these things have happened! If only you could have been there, you would have asked it yourself: How could God allow theses things to happen? A question that gets asked all of the time: Why did you let this happen, God? How could you? Why did you not stop this tragedy from happening? 

  You know, if you had been in the crowd, hearing those that mocked Him, as they said, "He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God," then you would have reacted one of two ways: you would either agreed with with their sentiment, or you would have thought that they should be cursed for saying such things. Obviously the two men Jesus walked with were of the opinion that they should have been cursed! But, on what basis did they feel this way? and were they all together wrong? 

  As to the request of these Young Women of Jerusalem, whomever they might be, it is not just a request that is given for answers of understanding, but one to prove themselves to be right. In other words, they are making the assumption that she, the Young Woman, has departed from doing that which she should be doing, and in the same manor, wondering if they themselves are justified within themselves. Don't kid yourselves if you think this does not happen with yourself; because it is really a question of how often you do it, not if you do. 

  What if I had taken this path or that? Could I have been better off? Was it the right thing to do? All of these questions and more, are not just in our hearts, they are in our us as part of our mortality, as a human being that is going to die. Much like that old saying, "You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough." Did I make the right choice? C.S. Lewis said, "If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair." 

  Which reminds me of something I heard the other day, as a woman called and asked Pastor Mike if what she heard from her pastor was correct, 'That when John said, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness," that John was not speaking to the church, but to those that had not yet been saved?' When I heard this question, two thoughts came into my mind: Who is this guy, and who made him a pastor? and, Why is she asking this question, how is it she does not know the truth? 

  Be that as it may, don't let it be...

"You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God's law, and you boast about your special relationship with him. You know what he wants; you know what is right because you have been taught his law. You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for people who are lost in darkness. You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways to God. For you are certain that God's law gives you complete knowledge and truth." (Romans 2:17-20) NLT