When I was in school during the late 1960's or early 70's, we had a most unusual assignment. The teacher read to us from a story called "The Lottery". It was a mythical story about a medium sized town that was having a lottery. The kids and adults alike put their names in for a prize that nobody wanted, for the one whose name was drawn was stoned by the rest of the town's citizens. This was done, so the story went, to ensure a good crop for the next planting season.

 

Mild stuff for the "Hunger Games" culture in which we live now, but as a boy of about twelve, surrounded by other boys and girls of the same age, we were horrified. The teacher who read us the story made it very clear that she could not take part in the discussion that ensued, that she was a mere moderator. She was not there to judge or help us with the judgments, but was only present to record this social "experiment, along with teachers from their classes from all over the nation. It was about a half-dozen years after the time that prayer, the Bible, and any other mention of God had been removed from the classroom by decision of no less an authority than the Supreme Court.

 

The idea behind the powers that be was to monitor and assess the "success" of their victory in removing God from the public square. When my class discussed the story, I as recall, the overwhelming majority felt that this was immoral and wrong, no matter what the town mores and superstitions were. I read a newspaper article a few years back that indicated this story of the lottery continued in classrooms across America, and as the years went by there became fewer and fewer students who would rise to condemn the town's behavior.

 

Fast forward to 2007, in a classroom of a major university in the panhandle of Texas. Aside from the professor, I was the senior member of in this advanced class designed to train public school teachers. The example given by the professor was of a hypothetical case wherein a loved one had a disease that could only be cured by a drug that you and your loved ones could not afford. One dose would provide the cure and you had an opportunity to steal it - would you do it? The unanimous decision, save one, of the class was that they would indeed steal the drug, and they would feel not only justified but noble for doing so.

 

I was the wet blanket of the party when I suggested that despite the nonsensical boundaries set on the problem, that there were in fact numerous alternate and moral routes to a favorable outcome. These alternative solutions included soliciting donations and accessing programs that most drug companies have available to the impoverished in the real world. However, the fact that the entire class had abandoned all moral solutions showed me something: It showed that the efforts of our educational system to remove God and install our own sense of right and wrong has failed miserably.

 

Obviously there are some who would consider these results encouraging, but understand this: When a society rejects God's unchangeable and uncompromising standards for "morals" that shift with ever the changing opinions of men, then we have no standards whatsoever. In fact, when God's principles are abandoned for the preferences of men, we always sink to the lowest common denominator, and the fabric of society unravels to the point where God and law are no longer respected.

 

And when this happens, watch out, for the consequences can prove to be unbearable. Consider the problems we have with the drug culture and ensuing homelessness. Consider how people openly commit major crimes with little fear of punishment. Consider how perverse the actions of some (not all) of our public schools have become. Consider how many people cannot even tell the difference between a person with XX chromosomes and XY chromosomes. Consider the flood of pornography available at the click of a mouse or the scroll of a phone. Consider that people are often at each other's throats for the most minor of offenses.

 

Consider where we are! How is this culture of changing standards working out for us?

 

So, what can be done? We can return to the only Standard that never changes! We can return to God! I'm not saying that it will be easy - in fact I can promise you that it will be hard. It will cost you something to return to this Standard, but the price of going along this destructive path of modern society with its false standards will be more than you and your children can afford to pay. It is time to return to God!

 

Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

Do not add to His words, or He will rebuke you and prove you to be a liar.

Proverbs 30:5-6, (1978 NIV)

 

 

And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. Mark 13:5-7, (ESV)

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man... Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming... Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Matthew 24:36-39, 42 & 44, (ESV) 

 

One of the things that distresses me most is all of the "End of the World" and "Armageddon" talk that always seem to surround any conflict around modern day Jerusalem. The end times are discussed often within the Scriptures, both in the Old Testament and the New, but the discussions are always in the context of preparation rather than anticipation. By that I mean that God has always expected His people to live as those who are ready to meet their Maker, regardless of the time. Had God wanted us to know the date of the Second Coming, He would have revealed that information in plain and clear language within His Word.

 

He certainly wouldn't have put it in some mysterious "code language" or other type of prophesy that only the privileged few could understand. Had He wanted to do that, He would have told Jesus, but when asked about this very subject, Jesus plainly stated that no one knew about that day, not even the angels or the Son of God. So why would we listen to some modern day fraudster when he claims to have broken the secret code? Why do we look at the Scriptures and say we are hearing of wars and rumors of wars, but then ignore these same Scriptures when Jesus Himself states that these things must take place but that the end is not yet?

 

So, should we be unconcerned when there are conflicts in the Middle East? Of course not! We should always be concerned about the suffering and ravages brought about by wars, but we shouldn't think that because something is happening in the region where God's chosen people once lived, that this has any bearing on our knowledge of when Jesus will come again.

 

Instead, we Christians should live our lives with the understanding that this world is not our home, and whether Jesus returns in our lifetimes or we go on to meet Him prior to the Second Coming, the requirement for us is the same: Be ready!

 

One last thought: One thing that we can know about those who claim a special insight as to the end of the world is that they are contradicting Jesus in this. So, whether this ignorance is intentional or unintentional, it should also make us wonder as to what else they have been mistaken about. For, Jesus could not have been clearer than He was when He told His own disciples that only God knows about that day. Perhaps our time would be much more wisely spent seeking the will of God through His Word, rather than seeking for something that we have been clearly told isn't possible for mortals to know.

 

Are you ready?

 

Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Matthew 24:44, (ESV)

 

 

Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life;

You have made my days a mere handbreath, the span of my years is as nothing before you.

Each man's life is but a breath.

Selah

Psalms 39:4-5, (1978 NIV)

 

In the first two lessons on Selah, we looked primarily at those things which concern us here on earth: The physical things. And while there can be no doubt that the physical challenges of this world in which we live must be dealt with, and while it is equally true that there are marvelous physical projects that we can and should take part in while we are here, there can also be no doubt that the physical things are not what we are truly here for. So, the third and final lesson of Selah is one of perspective.

 

In the passage quoted above, written some three thousand years ago, King David was inspired to reveal something that all old men and women have eventually discovered; namely, that life is short! It doesn't seem that way at first, does it? When we are little, it seems that it is a million years between birthdays. The time between the last day of school for the holiday break and the actual day of Christmas seems like it takes forever. When we are in school, the days before Summer seem to take an eternity to pass.

 

It's ironic that when we are young we cannot wait to be big enough to go to school, but when it gets here we later wonder what we were so anxious for. As we get older, we cannot wait until we become a teenager, until we get our driver's license, and until we are 18 and graduated. Life remains a series of seemingly endless anticipation to reach the next goal. We cannot wait to go to college, to graduate from college, and then to get married. Then we can't wait to have kids, to have a bigger house, and then to have our kids move on so they can begin lives of their own, on their own. All of life seems to be one big line in which we must slowly advance until we reach the next stage, only to replace that achievement that has finally arrived with another that seems just as impossibly far away.

 

And then, something happens: We suddenly come to the point that we realize that life has gotten away from us somehow. All of those seemingly endless waits are now clearly revealed as time that got away too quickly. And we begin to gain the perspective that God had revealed to mankind thousands of years ago: Life is but a breath.

 

Since that is the case, we ought to do something about it. You might think that you don't have time right now, but you would be wrong. Conversely, you might be at a stage that you think it's too late to do anything about it. Again, you would be wrong, for it is never too late to gain an eternal perspective, nor (my younger friends) is it ever to early. Helen Keller once said that "life is either an exciting adventure, or it is nothing." Ms. Keller was absolutely right! But, this marvelous adventure is only worthwhile if you live it for God our Creator, and Jesus our Savior!

 

This is the perspective we must maintain throughout life, for it is the only one that will allow you to achieve, by God's grace and great mercy, the things that you were designed to achieve. We are not mere animals wrapped in physical shells designed to wear out after 80 or 90 years - We Are Eternal! We have eternal souls contained within this physical packaging. The years you have on earth are little more than a proving ground. Will you serve God, now? Will you do so in His prescribed way as defined in His Holy Word - the Bible?

 

The fact is that we are a mere handbreath, and some of us are getting closer to being out of breath than we would like to admit. This is why it is so important to have these moments of honest reflection. At the end of the passage above, God inspired David to write, "Selah". He wanted us to pause and reflect on what the truths we had just read actually mean. Are you ready for Heaven? If you are serving God in His way now, then it's likely that you are. However, if you have not serving God in His prescribed way (or if you are not sure), then it is more than possible that you are not ready to meet your Maker.

 

And, that would be a shame, for as exciting as the events and adventures and great projects of this life can be, the life that is truly life is eternal life. And, we do not want to miss out on the beauty of that life.

 

One more thing to pause and reflect on. If you are so blessed, you might have a hundred years here on earth, but eternal life, by definition, is forever. Which life do you think you were actually created for? There can only be one answer. We must find out what that answer is, and it is revealed, quite clearly, in one Source and one Source alone: The Holy Word of God! It behooves us, then, to read that divine message from the Father who loves us, and then do what it says.

 

The third lesson of Selah is to pause and reflect and gain an eternal perspective.

 

Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground;

for it is time to seek the LORD, until He comes and showers righteousness on you.

Micah 10:12, (1978 NIV)

 

I stretch forth my hands unto Thee; my soul thirsts after Thee , as a thirsty land.

Selah

Psalms 143:6, (KJV)

 

Sometime around the year 1960, a man by the name of J. David Bamberger went into partnership with another gentleman in a fried chicken business they opened up across from the Alamo. It was a great location and an even better product. Within a decade, J. David Bamberger and his partner had expanded to over 1,600 locations. Now, you might be wondering why you never heard of this incredibly successful organization, but it is very likely that you have, for Mr. Bamberger, along with his partner, Bill Church, called this franchise "Church's Fried Chicken".

 

About 1969 they sold out and Mr. Bamberger and his wife, were ready for a new adventure. So they bought several thousand acres of what he described as "the worst land in the Hill Country of Texas". It was a land that was filled with cactus and rock and a close cousin of the cedar tree - the Ashe Juniper. There was no live water on these abused sections of land for it had long ago been over=grazed of its native grass and then overgrown by the Juniper.

 

Mr. Bamberger then had seven wells drilled at a depth of 500 feet, but in reality they could hardly be called wells, for they didn't yield any water at all. A lesser man would have given up, but not J. David Bamberger! Being a business man, he began to look at the assets and liabilities of the land. It was in an area that received 28 inches of annual rainfall - this was certainly more than adequate for a healthy land, but the Juniper that covered most of his ranch was a genuine "water hog". So he began the meticulous process of bulldozing the greatest portion of these thirsty trees and then sowed the ground with tons of native grass seed.

 

Then he allowed the land to "pause" and let God's nature take over. It was to be a long pause, indeed.

 

But he added to his hard work and wisdom the virtue of patience, and two and one half years later, it happened! Water started to flow out of a portion of one of the hills in this hill country, and a natural spring was re-born! Over the years a total of eleven springs, along with the resulting streams and ponds have formed... but how did this happen?

 

As it turns out, this portion of the hill country of Texas lies atop a huge layer of Edwards Limestone, one of the best natural "sponges and filters" created by the Lord. When Mr. Bamberger removed the Ashe Juniper, he removed a tree that essentially takes the rainfall it needs, and then lets the rest runoff to places far away. And, when he planted the native grass, he was placing in the soil a plant that took just what it needed to survive, and then drained the rest of the water, through its long roots, deep into the soil where it could reach the limestone to be stored until it hit the saturation point and trickled out into the natural springs and streams and ponds.

 

In fact, the water is so plentiful in the wet years that its streams carry the water to a river which flows into the City of Austin, Texas some twenty miles away, adding much needed liquid to the water supply of this thriving city.

 

And, the Bamberger's Ranch? It has grown to a 5,500 acre wildlife preserve. It has been transformed from a near wasteland of cactus and rocks and Ashe Junipers, to an oasis containing over a hundred varieties of both wildlife and plant life. It has huge trees, large areas of native grass for grazing and even a bat cave that Mr. and Mrs. Bamberger built from the ground up and which is now the seasonal home for hundreds of thousands of bats migrating from Mexico.

 

It is a beautiful land, indeed! It is the work of a lifetime, and it continues to this day. The Bamberger Ranch Preserve has since been featured on documentaries by the National Geographic Society, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and countless others. His unique method of land restoration has been copied by numerous others with excellent results. The ranch has been set up as a foundation which will allow it to be run in perpetuity. Thousands of school children has visited the ranch over the years to allow them to see what can be accomplished if a person just makes their mind up to do it. It is a testimony to what can be done when a man sets his mind to do something worthwhile with the life and resources that God has allowed him to posses. Oh, one more thing you might want to know about this ranch.

 

They named it, "Selah"!

 

Mr. Bamberger took the name from the Bible, when he discovered the word meant to stop, to pause, to look around, and to reflect upon what you see.

 

What would happen if we did that with the resources that God has given us? It is no doubt that the world would be a more beautiful place, but just imagine what it could be like if we would "break up our unplowed ground" from a spiritual perspective. Imagine what could happen if we had that "Selah" spirit in our service to God. Imagine what we could accomplish with the help of the Lord if we would just pause long enough to think about what we are really here for and what we could do for the kingdom of God if we would just take the time to reflect on our duty as servants to the Most High. Why, this world would become a Paradise, would it not?

 

The second lesson of Selah is to pause and reflect, and then to get to the hard work of breaking up our unplowed ground and sowing righteousness until the Lord comes! What great things could God accomplish through you, if you would just pause and think about it?