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Throwaways by Josprel America has a reputation of being a throwaway society. We discard things that those in some other nations would feel privileged to possess. We take food so much for granted that it often becomes a throwaway item. Our clothes are treated in the same cavalier manner. So are our appliances, home furnishings, automobiles no older than a few years, and myriad other items. We blithely consigned them all to the trash heaps. America’s throwaway inventory appears such an irresistible force, that many communities are at a loss where dump all their discards. Some time back, New York City, with nowhere else to deposit its trash, hauled it out to sea by tugboats and barges. The plan was to sink it in the ocean. It created such a public outcry that the still loaded barges were recalled. A short time prior to the writing of this article, the city of Buffalo, New York laid a heavy fine on a disposal company that permitted its long trainload of trash, hauled in from other communities, to remain several weeks on a siding near a residential area. Community officials of dumps where the train was destined had second thoughts and reneged on their agreement to accept the garbage. Since the season in Buffalo was an unusually hot one, rats, insects, foul odors, and fears of infections plagued the area to the point that the residents were forced to remain in their homes. Only after state health officials threatened to arrest the owners of the disposal company, did the train finally depart. Tragically, America includes human lives among the things it easily discards. Over the past several generations, our society has discarded – simply thrown away – millions of pre-born infants. It is a perilous, national transgression for which America will account to God. The legal murder of pre-born children is a devaluation of human life. Not only is it murder, it also sends a message that young children are disposable, especially if they create an inconvenience. The message is clearly heard, as is evidenced by newborns discarded in trash cans, lakes and rivers, abandoned on park benches and in churches, hospital reception areas and elsewhere. This horrifies most of us, but these are not isolated occurrences. Society devaluates human life, but God does not. To Him, humanity is not disposable, it is lost. For that reason He sent His son, Jesus Christ to seek and to save mankind. Jesus defined His mission as one of seeking and saving “that which is lost” (Luke 19:10). God has searched to save humanity since the beginning of our race, yet most people choose to remain lost. They deliberately hide from Him, as did Adam and Eve after they sinned in the Garden of Eden “Genesis 3:8-10). Since that original transgression, men and women have continuously hidden from their creator. Perhaps you are intentionally hiding from God. Perhaps you fear, as did Adam and Eve, that on His finding you, God will punish you. Sin has that attribute. It causes us to fear God and expect His punishment. It blinds us to God’s love, clouding the truth that we may experience His forgiveness through Jesus Christ. The Bible records that God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it. His heart grieves for castaways (Isaiah 11:11-12; 16:1-4). The Book of Genesis records that, when God found Adam and Eve, He dressed them in garments of His own making. He now desires to clothe the lost ones in such garments - the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Read the Apostle Paul’s epistles to the Romans and the Galatians). Alluding to the story of the Prodigal Son, a hymn classic of the Church reads: “Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling/ Calling for you and for me/ See on the portals he’s waiting and watching/ watching for you and for me/ Come home. Come home/ ye who are weary, come home/ Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling/ Calling, oh sinner, come home.” That does not sound like an inclination to punish the lost. It sounds like a call to find and forgive them; a call that comes deep from the heart of God. You may reason, “Well, I’m not lost. I do not require salvation. It’s just that I’m not a religious person. Some need to depend on a god for support, but not me. I don’t consider myself a sinner.” The Bible, however, disagrees with you. It claims that all mankind has sinned. All need forgiveness. The epistle to the Romans is addressed to all mankind. Chapter one reveals why God considers all humanity as lost - why the whole world is guilty before God. All should read it! It’s a mind-boggling account of humanity’s sins! Ages have changed, societies have changed but, without God’s remedy, human sins remain immutable, as does mankind’s lost condition. Romans 1:21-32 is among the saddest passages in the Bible. It reveals why humanity deliberately lost itself: It once knew God, but did not honor Him as God; nor was it thankful to Him. It also refused Him the honor He deserved. And so, it deliberately chose a lost status. In Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter sixteen, verse twenty-six, Jesus asked two questions of those who choose to be lost. The first is: “What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and loose his own soul?” The second is: “What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” We all must provide individual answers to those questions, for only as individuals do we know what value we put on our souls. As we contemplate the answers, we must consider the value Jesus placed on our souls. He considered them so infinitely valuable, that He died to redeem them from their lost condition. -30- © Joseph Perrello (Josprel) josprel@yahoo.com)
Article Source: http://christian-topics.info
A three-year U.S. Air Force veteran, who served thirty months overseas, Josprel is an ordained minister, whose stories and articles have appeared in print and online. He currently is authoring two novels, "Beloved Apostate" and "Kanfal." Josprel has pastored three churches, including one in Attica, New York, the location of America's bloodiest prison riot. During that time, together with other pastors in the town, he counseled the families of the prison security officers who were held hostage by the inmates. Afterward, at the request of the Attica Prison administration, Josprel conducted weekly three-hour Bible studies. The studies lasted for some four years, after which he turned them over to another pastor, due to demands on his time; a five-time weekly radio program, a large congregation, new members classes, church administration, a building program during which the congregation constructed a large new sanctuary and an education wing. josprel@yahoo.com
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