Are You a Survivor?

Remember those close calls in your life? I can. I could have been aborded as millions of babies are today, obviously, I wasn't.  My birth weight was 3 1/2 lbs. when the medical profession was not what it is today. I was sent home to die, I lived. I almost drowned at age 21 in my parents swimming pool, but was pulled out by a cousin. I waited for a telephone call to tell me the result of a CAT scan on my neck, to see if it was a tumor, but it was the effects of drinking too many carbonated drinks. What kept me from being the victim of a DOA when I ran a red light and barely missed another car as we both went under the light at the same time? How many times was I at the wrong place and wrong time, but missed being a part of a catastrophe, that I did not even know about? I want you to STOP right now and think about your close calls? Have you ever asked the questions, "Why am I alive? or Why am I here?"

I think the answer is found in Exodus 19:4 as God says, "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to Me." Do you know that the Egyptians wandered around the wilderness for 40 years trying to figure out their purpose in life. Rather than focusing on God and seeking direction in life they chose to wander? But God carried them through. Why did God carry them through? Why did God carry you through? 

It has nothing to do with us, but the answer is in our Creator. God has a purpose for you. He is calling you to him. Have you acknowledged that it was God carrying you through and not that you are just a survivor? In Deut. 11: 8, 11-15, Moses told the Israelites, "Keep every command...so that you may have strength to cross into and possess the land you are to inherit." "If you carefully obey My commands...to love God and serve Him with all your heart and soul, I will provide...You will eat and be satisfied." If we follow him we will find direction and it will satisfy.

Ecclesiastes 3:11, says that God "has set eternity in the hearts of men."  What exactly does that mean? We all want to live longer, and live life more abundantly, "be satisfied." That is why companies spend trillions of dollars a year on ads. We believe that the products the world has to offer will give us longevity, make us look better, feel better, communicate better, and help us live more productive lives. But how many hold true to their promises? Don't answer. 

Throughout the Bible are examples of men and women who sought to quench their thirst with worldly  things, but found that the thirst was only quenched by the streams of living water that is offered only by Jesus Christ. As Christians we know that our life is meaningless when we live without an eternal prospective.

Are you seeking to fill your thirst with things of the world? Are you fighting off temptations in your life that are keeping you from embracing God and his plan for your life? What is in your past or present that keeps you from trusting God? Could it be guilt, fear, anger, materialism, or approval? I would be a fool to think that we are not products of our past even present but we do not have to become a "prisoner" of it.  God wants to set you free. He wants you to experience real life. He wants a relationship with you. That is why you are here. We are all born in bondage of sin (Romans 3:23) but God provided us a gift of eternal life (Rom.6:23). That gift was his son, Jesus (John 3:16) but we must respond to his offer of redemption by confessing him in our heart (Romans 10:9), and recognizing that God is the answer in LIFE.

Have you had a close call? Have you thanked God for another opportunity to grow close to him?