Enjoy Your Trip

Have you ever heard someone say, 'Why would I want to be a Christian, they don't have any fun.'  'Their life is so boring.'  'There's nothing to do.'  'I'll wait till I have lived the good life and then I'll be a Christian.'

Speaking of the good life, I think I mentioned previously that we owned and operated a nursing home  some years back and one of our patients had no mind left at all, all she did was holler and yell every time we tried to help her.  Guess what, she was a wino and had destroyed her brain cells with wine.  Is that the good life?

Proverbs 20:1 "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise."rr

Proverbs 23:20,21  "Do not mix with winebibbers, or with gluttonous eaters of meat; for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty."

I had a father when I was a little girl, who didn't come home a lot because of his drinking, and when he did, it was a nightmare.  I woke up one night to screaming and ran to see what was wrong and he was trying to kill my mother and when he saw me standing there he stopped. When he was sober he was so sweet.

Proverbs 23:1  "When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you, and put a  knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.  Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food."  Also leads to poverty.  See above text.

Proverbs 23: 29,30  "Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions?  Who has worries without cause?  Who has redness of eyes?  Those who linger long at the wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly;  At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper."

1 Corinthians 6: 19,20  "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

If our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, then how should we take care of it?  Should we drink wine or any fermented drink?  Should we be gluttonous in our appetite? Should we smoke? Should we harm our bodies with drugs, even prescription drugs?  Should we over exercise, overwork, over sleep?  All these things lead to poor health, poor mind, poor body functions.

Is all of this the good life that people don't want to leave behind to become a Christian?  Christians do enjoy life a lot more than someone who thinks they are living the good life in sin.  Believe me, I have seen more than my share of that 'good life'.  I love being a Christian, the benefits are beyond our imagination.  We have Angels watching over us, we have a body that can be filled with God's Holy Spirit to guide us and teach us, we can be filled with His love and share it with others.  Then we have a future life in heaven if we have lived the good life here.  I don't mean floating around on a cloud, playing a harp, I mean living in a mansion, having a home in the city and in the country, where flowers never die, where we will have all the good things to eat,  where we will never grow old.  Don't you want to be ready when Jesus comes, it isn't very far away, you can tell by the way things are winding down in this old world.  Those who have gone to sleep in Jesus will be raised at the brightness of His coming and those who have waited for him and are alive will be caught up to meet Him in the air to live with Him forever. What a trip that will be. I want to enjoy life forever with Jesus my Savior, don't you.  You can enjoy this trip too, if you so desire.  Think about the good life, the real good life.  Let's prepare for that trip to heaven and the good life He has to offer us, forever with Him.
Enjoy your trip as a Christian, don't be ashamed of your values.  Bring glory to God in your life and yours will be a happy, enjoyable trip to heaven.    Grandma Joan