Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
May was hot; the fourth-hottest May in the past 100 years for the average daily high temperature and the fifth-hottest for the average daily temperature. We came within a degree of tying the record for the single warmest day in May.
So far, in June, we already have tied one daily high temperature record and broken another, and the average daily high is well above the long-term average for the same time period. It’s been hot!
This past Sunday was Father’s Day and the first day of summer (my calendar says that summer actually started at 5:44 pm EDT on June 20; how they can be that precise boggles me). So, what do heat, Father’s Day and the beginning of summer have in common?
First, God is our Father and the Father/Creator of the heavenly lights that are involved in our weather (Luke 3:38; Acts 17:24-28; James 1:16:18; Genesis 1:14-19; Daniel 2:20-22; 1 John 3:1-3; 1:5-7). While God is the Father of all men, some have rejected him and become children of our and his common enemy (John 1:1-13; 8:42-47; 1 John 2:22-23; 1 Peter 5:6-11).
We must remember neither situation regarding the weather and, especially, our current personal, community, state and national crises are as bad as they’ve been in the past. Few of us alive today experienced the Great Depression, but we learned about it in school and from those who did experience it. We must never forget or change our history or the truth of God’s word (Jude 1:3-4; Romans 1:18-32; 2 Timothy 3:1-9 — sounds like current events, doesn’t it?).
Sadly, things are going to continue getting worse until Jesus returns (2 Timothy 3:12; Matthew 24:21-31). Despite that, God the Father will shield his children because of our faith and finally save us (1 Peter 1:3-9). Generally, non-Christians will suffer just as much as Christians during bad times in the present age because, despite the spiritual blessings for Christians and the persecutions against them now, God sends the material blessings on the just and unjust alike, and the natural and man-made disasters, such as COVID-19 and looting respectively, affect everyone alike (Ephesians 1:3-10; Matthew 5:44-45; 24:4-13).
In the end, while the suffering, including persecution, of God’s children will end, besides the more intense heat than now they’ll face, the terribleness for non-Christians will be as unfathomable as the blessedness for Christians (Mark 9:42-48; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 20:10-15 through 22:21). The concern is while someone can pinpoint the change in seasons to the minute and the date is set for Jesus’ return and the judgment, God has kept that latter date to himself, and his servants — Christians — who’ve neglected faithfully waiting and serving will be caught unawares and face the same punishment as non-Christians (Acts 17:29-31; Matthew 24:36-51; 7:21-27; Luke 6:46-49; Titus 2:11-14; 2 Timothy 4:6-8).
Are you faithfully watching and serving as a child of God so you can avoid the unbearable, eternal heat and other consequences of hell (Galatians 3:26-4:7; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Leonard Lauriault is a member of the Church of Christ in Logan who writes about faith for the Quay County Sun. Contact him at [email protected]