I have a pleasant home, with a pleasant family, yard properly spruced up and everyone has heard me say that I am a Christian.  I go to the well manicured church, possibly spending 4-5 hours per week between, worship, preaching and social events.  I go to work on time, get home on time and pour my glass of wine on time, never hesitating to make sure that I am listening to those around me.  I rest in God’s word, tell people about Jesus and take special care to try and stop when I see people in crisis.  The folks at work know that I go to church and they know that I have a Bible in my briefcase, sometimes they even stop to ask me an elementary question or two then scatter afraid of creating what work may label as an unexceptable conversation.  My wife loves me but here’s the problem she has recently begun chastising me in the Lord, using scripture to point out that my faith really lacks any work at all.

What do you mean?  Was my first retort, I mean didn’t she read the first paragraph?  My concept of holiness is not God’s.  My concept of surrender is very different from God’s.  My idea of service in the authority of God determines to apply the least cost, pressure or investment on my part.  And what of Christ’s imminent return for the Church, she says.  Isn’t imminent tonight and doesn’t faith require demonstration of that belief in certain things which must quickly come to pass?  How many coins did the Lord give you, she says, and that one really hurts, because I am the most blessed man.  God has openly given and given and given in my life and I sit here anxious for that grace as I know that I have absorbed and enjoyed the greatest affect of his investment.  I didn’t plant to adequate measure, water and fertilize sufficiently to produce a banner crop where God might see the increase.  I did not write the books that he put in my hands, take the trips he financed, feed the mouths that he gave me to care for, heal the sick that he wanted me to bless with his healing.  Now I read the first paragraph and weap.

The kids have forgotten Him, why?  Is it something that they have done or something that we have not done?  We know this country is in trouble and we know that Christ’s return is imminent yet we sit here, eating and drinking and being given in marriage, knowing, uncounsciously that this is the environment upon which Christ said the end would come.  We see people leaving the churches in droves yet we stand there holding open the door for them to leave counting ourselves smuggly among the occupied.  We would leave the ninety nine to go get the one but the problem is the 99 has dwindled to 50 and we are afraid to go because there would be 49.  My wife is right.  None of this stuff matters except that which Christ gave us to do in preparation of his return.  If I trust him he will take care of us providing work, clothes or food for the plowing.  Maybe just maybe there is still time for me to preach to gospel to the lost, be father to the fatherless, son to the husbandless, caretaker to the innocent, soldier on the front lines for Christ.  Now my wife has the problem, she has to determine if she is going to follow me as I follow Christ.