Here For A Good Time

"I'm here for a good time," said the young woman.

"But when the good time is over, when death comes and you enter eternity, facing God's judgment on your life, what then?" asked her friend.

"I won't live like this all my life," she answered. "I'll get right with God when I'm older. Right now, I'm interested in having a good time."

"You are being deceived by the devil with that kind of thinking. You may not celebrate your next birthday. You may never have another chance to prepare for eternity," warned her friend.

The young woman laughed and continued the pursuit of her pleasure. A few weeks later...

It all happened so abruptly that she had no time to cry to God for mercy, no time to accept Christ as her Savior. Her last cry was filled with anguish as she sped into an eternity of everlasting punishment. While she was living, God used a friend to warn her not to neglect Christ in her life, but she didn't listen.

STOP AND THINK for a moment of the sad choice this girl made: she chose the "passing pleasure of sin" (Hebrews 11:25) rather than Christ as her Savior. Are you doing the same thing? Do her words, "I'm here for a good time," describe your attitude too? Are you one of those the Bible describes as "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (2 Timothy 3:4)? If so, take this young woman's sudden end as a warning.

Remember - eternity comes after this life, and you could enter it any time. The pleasures of sin soon pass, but the penalties of sin go on forever! Are they really worth it? The pleasures of sin are like soap bubbles: beautiful to look at, fun to chase, but full of emptiness. Lasting joy and satisfaction can never be obtained from this world.

Jesus Christ said, "Whoever drinks of this water (this world's pleasure) will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:13,14). The Bible also says that those who enter into the Lord's presence will find "fullness of joy" and "pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11). Now that's a good time!

CHOOSE NOW - and choose the best. Satan will tell you that you will have to give up all the "good times" if you come to Christ. Don't believe him. He is a liar (John 8:44). Christians are the only truly happy people! Since their sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ, they have peace with God and are assured of eternal pleasures in His presence.

Is your heart longing for the really "good times"true, lasting peace and joy? Turn now to Jesus, who died on the cross for you. Confess your sins in repentance to Him, and He will pardon you. Accept Him as Savior and He will save you.

(Scriptures from The New King James Version, Copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. By permission. Free tracts and biblical counsel available by request. Write: Grace & Truth, 210 Chestnut Street, Danville, IL 61832.)

The Station
Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We are traveling by train. Out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there, our dreams will come true, and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damming the minutes for loitering -- waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

"When we reach the station, that will be it!", we cry. "When I'm 18." "When I buy a new 450 SL Mercedes-Benz!" "When I put the last kid through college." "When I have paid off the mortgage!" "When I get a promotion." "When I reach retirement, I shall live happily ever after!"

Sooner or later we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.

"Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 119:24: "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." It isn't the burdens today that drive men mad. It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves that rob us of today.

So stop pacing the aisles and counting miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.

by Robert J. Hastings

Teen Commandments

Don't let your parents down; they brought you up.
Choose your companions with care; you become what they are.
Be master of your habits or they will master you.
Treasure your time; don't spend it; invest it.
Stand for something or you'll fall for anything.
Enter into courtship with one who would make a good mate.
See what you can do for others; not what they can do for you.
Guard your thoughts; what you think, you are.
Don't fill up on this world's crumbs; feed your soul on the Living Bread.
Give your all to Christ; He gave His all for you.

The Twenty-third Site

The Internet is my shepherd; my spiritual growth shall want. It maketh me to sit down and do nothing for His name's sake because it requireth all my leisure time. It keepeth me from doing my duties as a Christian because it presenteth so many good sites that I must see.

It restoreth my knowledge of the things of the world and keepeth me from the study of God's Word. It leadeth me in the paths of failing to attend church and doing nothing in the kingdom of God.

Yea, though I live to be a hundred, I shall keep surfing the net as long as it will work, for with it, I find my closest companions. Its sounds and graphics they comfort me. It presenteth entertainment before me and keepeth me from doing important things with my family. It fills my head with ideas which differ from those in the Word of God.

Surely no good thing will come out of my life because of so many wasted hours, and I shall dwell in my remorse and bitter memories forever.

Farmer's Guide to Computer Lingo

Modem: What you did to the hayfields.
Keyboard: Where you hang your keys.
Windows: What to shut when it's 30 below.
Log On: Making the wood stove hotter.
Hard Drive: Getting home during mud season.
Microchips: What's left in the bag when the big chips are gone.
Download: Getting the firewood off the pickup.
Megahertz: What you get when you're not careful downloading.

A Few Thoughts to Ponder in Life

Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?
Why isn't phonetic spelled the way it sounds?
Why are there flotation devices under plane seats instead of parachutes?
Why are cigarettes sold at gas stations when smoking is prohibited there?
Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?
How does the guy who drives the snowplow get to work?
If 7-11 is open 365 days a year and 24 hours a day, why are there locks on the doors?
If nothing sticks to Teflon, how do they make Teflon stick to the pan?
If buttered toast always lands buttered side down, and the cat always lands on his feet, what would happen if you tied a piece of buttered toast on the back of a cat?
If you are driving the speed of light and turn on your headlights, what happens?
You know how most packages say "Open Here?" What should you do if it says, "Open somewhere else?"
Why do they put Braille dots on the keypad of the drive-up ATM?
Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?
Why is it that when you transport something by car it is called a shipment, but when you transport something by a ship it is called cargo?
You know that little indestructible black box that is used in planes?
Why can't they make the whole plane out of that same substance?
Why is it that when you're driving and looking for an address, you turn the radio down?
Why don't sheep shrink in the rain?
Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
What does Geronimo scream when he jumps out of a plane?
If fire fighters fight fire and crime fighters fight crime, what do freedom fighters fight?
Why is the time of day when the traffic is slowest, called the rush hour?
If olive oil comes from olives, where does baby oil come from?
Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?
If con is opposite of pro, is congress the opposite of progress?