Why God?
Wallet
A legend says that Moses once sat near a well in meditation. A wayfarer stopped to drink from the well and when he did so his purse fell from his girdle into the sand. The man departed. Shortly afterwards another man passed near the well, saw the purse and picked it up. Later a third man stopped to assuage his thirst and went to sleep in the shadow of the well. Meanwhile, the first man had discovered that his purse was missing and assuming that he must have lost it at the well, returned, awoke the sleeper (who of course knew nothing) and demanded his money back. An argument followed, and irate, the first man slayed the latter. Whereupon Moses said to God, "You see, therefore men do not believe in you. There is too much evil and injustice in the world. Why should the first man have lost his purse and then become a murderer? Why should the second have gotten a purse full of gold without having worked for it? The third was completely innocent. Why was he slain?"
God answered. "For once and only once, I will give you an explanation. I cannot do it at every step. The first man was a thief's son. The purse contained money stolen by his father from the father of the second, who, finding the purse, only found what was due him. The third was a murderer whose crime had never been revealed and who received from the first the punishment he deserved. In the future believe that there is sense and righteousness in what transpires even when you do not understand."
Faith in God is the sole answer to the mystery of evil.
from 100 Prison Meditations by Richard Wurmbrand pgs 6-7.
Time
"Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God"
wasn't the only sermon of lasting value delivered by Jonathan Edwards.
He also addressed
"The Preciousness of Time and the Importance of Redeeming It"
for "when it is gone, it cannot be purchased for money and cannot be redeemed
by silver or gold."
According to the Scriptures a man is allotted seventy years.
This converts to 25,550 days. Multiply 365 days by your age
to find the number of days you have lived.
Now,
subtract the number of your days from the 25,550
allotted days to get an idea of how many days you may have left.
Edwards said, "If one were as foolish with his money as with
his time, throwing it away like he throws away time,
we would think him insane and not in his right mind."
The devil tells youth that there is plenty of time left to
consider the things of God. "When their youth is passed, he
tells them that they have lost so much - the best of their time - it
is not worthwhile to attempt doing anything."
This clear, precise presentation of Mr. Edward's sermon,
delivered in December 1734, is refreshing and easy to read.
Those who feel a sense of urgency will find the last section,
"How to Make the Best Use of Time," to be extremely helpful.
Time does NOT heal all things, God does and the Scriptures are
concise in their counsel concerning time.
"The Preciousness of Time and the Importance of Redeeming
It" along with ten other classic messages by Jonathan Edwards
have been revised and updated by Mark Trigsted and gathered
under the title "Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God."
Available at www.cornerstone-unlimited.com Where the
Classics Come Alive.