It was raining, hard, it was dark and it was gloomy in our neck of the woods this morning.  Fog on the hills so thick we can’t see the hills – the trees were mere shadowy ‘things’ that loomed out there, waiting to show themselves as either friend or foe.  Winter is not giving in; while I admire its tenacity it is time for it to accept defeat; it really is time for Spring.

We will be attending Gary’s (Carla’s brother-in-law) memorial tomorrow; quite a shock – goes to bed healthy and happy and wakes up with a torn aorta, there was nothing they could do for him.

I felt so sorry for his children and his new wife.  Death comes when it comes.  We have loved ones that had an illness that eventually incapacitated them to the point where death was expected; but, as hard as it is we have time to prepare ourselves.

A death, as immediate as Gary’s, comes so quickly that we can be in shock for a long time before the realization finally comes to us.  Gary was prepared for whenever God called him home and with that affirmation, while we grieve his leaving us, we rejoice with him that he is pain free, praising God and we will once again meet with him, in glory, forever.

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Romans 6:23 “ For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  KJV

In this day and age when equality is a big thing; when equal pay for all is an important topic, the above verse reminds us that in the end, either we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, or we die in our sins.

The wages of sin:  death.  There is no inequality.

We look at wages as earned.  We earn our money to purchase the things we need – and some we want – to live our life, to make a home for ourselves and our family.

The wages of sin is the same for all people.  Whether you are the head of a Fortune 500 Company or work in a fast food place as a clerk the end wage is the same.

It doesn’t depend on your marital status, your politics, the color of your skin or your sex; the wages of sin are the same for all of us.

We cannot buy our way out by doing good works, by being nice, by being a good person, by going to church, by donating money, work or gifts to a non-profit organization – NONE of it counts against those wages if we do not accept God’s gift.

There are far too many religious leaders, even over Christian organizations, that have been softening this message to the point where those that listen to them are not kneeling before God and confessing their sins; not realizing that no matter what they do, no matter how hard they may try to be righteous, without that first step of kneeling at the Cross and accepting God’s gift, they are doomed for eternity.

As human beings each of us has a will.  As adults each of makes our own decisions when it comes to most things.

Yes we are influenced by others.  We are, to a degree, a product of our family, or our community, our education and society in general.

We are influenced by the careers we choose, by the companies we choose to work for, by those we choose to have as friends, but the bottom line is we make our own choices.

We choose careers based on our own core beliefs (or should), we choose who we work for based on their policies and how they line up with our ethics (or should), we choose who we spend time with, who we marry, what we do with our life.

We choose whether to accept Christ as Savior or not.  There is no middle ground here.  And while we have hope for those that still have a breath in their body that they can still accept Him, the longer they wait the less chance they will have to make the correct decision.

I know it is hard for people to accept that by their rejection of Christ they are earning their way into hell.  Why would anyone want to work to get into a prison instead of working to stay out of one?  It doesn’t make sense.

But, that is the exact same thing sinners are doing with their life, earning their way into the prison of hell.

Lord, may I be ever ready to talk to others about your gift and how important it is to accept your Son.

Later, Art (-: