December 31, 2012: The end of the world as we know it!

What if...

I'm not talking about the fiscal cliff that our legislators in Washington DC are driving us towards.
I'm not talking about a doomsday scenario or mythological ending.
No Nostradamus like prediction or anything like that.

A quick time-out...

I should start by saying that this post is primarily directed to my fellow followers of Jesus. If you are not a follower, I invite you to read anyway, but you may not find that it fits your world.
On the other hand, there is plenty here that you can choose to do. The teachings of Jesus on how to live well work well for a society of any kind. The good works won't land you a spot in The Promised Land; you'll have to proclaim His as your Lord and Savior for that.
Just the same, these are good points for good living.

Okay. Back to the what if...

What if we collectively decided that we would live completely according to the teachings of the Jesus?
How would that change our day to day lives?

Most of the people I know are good people. Most of the things that we do are acceptable to do. However, acceptable and holy are very different things.

Let's start with something simple--the speed limit. If we decided that we were no longer going to willfully break the law and drive 5-10 mph over the posted speed limit, how much would that impact your morning commute? I know that no officer is going to pull you over for driving 70 in a 65 zone, but that's still breaking the law.

There are so many things that we justify by saying that everybody does it or that nobody cares. We know that they are not right (or righteous), but we choose to do them, just the same. We tell "white" lies, we download music, movies, games and more from the internet. We cheat on taxes. We do a lot of things and take advantage of the "everybody's doing it" or "nobody cares" excuse to do the wrong thing.

What if...

What if we decided that we were going to focus more on others rather than ourselves?
How would that change our day to day lives?

What if we never did anything expecting something in return? What if we never decided how to treat somebody based on the way they treat us or others? What if we really followed the "Do unto others..." Golden Rule that Jesus taught?

Is it even possible to always be nice?
Again, most of the people I know are good, kind people. Most of them are generous and willing to help a friend in need. And yet, we often judge others for their needs. We often decided whether or not we help them based on how they have treated us or how we perceive that they would treat us.
What if we just decided to do the right thing because...well, because it's the right thing?

What if each one of us decided to change how we see the world around us? What if we looked upon our fellow man as Jesus does? What if we felt their pain, experienced their loneliness, knew their frustrations and made every effort to ease their burden?

What if we realized that there is no magic in a "sinner's prayer" that we may have prayed at one time, and the only way to heaven is to truly follow Jesus? When we reach the point that we realize that repentance means that we have to change--that we have to stop and turnaround, then we can begin to follow Jesus.

So often, we keep going on our merry way and we ask God to bless us as we go. We want for Him to follow us rather than turning from our ways and following Him.
I'm guilty.

I have done those things that "everybody" does. I have justified them because "nobody" cares.
But...

What if...

What if that all changed? What if we saw the hungry and fed them? What if we saw the lonely and visited them? What if we saw people in need and met their needs?

What if we saw the lost and shared Jesus?

The reality of Christianity is that it should change the world as we have known it.
And it should change us as the world has known us.

January 1, 2013 is just another day that marks the passing of time.
But it could be the beginning of a whole new world.
Let's get ready for it. Let's end the world as we have known it. Let's live life as we walk with Jesus, following Him all the way Home.

John <><