Father, I would ask for Your watchcare over us this evening. You alone know what the future holds. We place ourselves into Your almighty arms. Amen.

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It seems that much of life around us is always in a hurry – to our detriment. A case in point:

This morning I traveled down a county road to pick up a student. First of all, my 15-ton bus is heading south, and a car is heading north. As we are about ready to pass one another a squirrel ran across the road. It wasn’t one of those run-stop-and-go-the-other-way kind of things, but the squirrel just flew at top speed and didn’t slow down in the slightest…at least not initially.

The squirrel cleared the car’s tires and I saw it dash toward the bus but was unable to see if it cleared my tires, too. That is until I did my turnaround and headed back north. The squirrel had cleared the driver’s side tire…but unfortunately, it didn’t clear the right front tire. 15-tons of bus pressing down on one tire doesn’t bode well for a squirrel that was in too much of a hurry for its own good.

Regrettably, we often do the same thing. How many drivers take irresponsible risks while on the road? Weaving in and out of traffic, pulling out in front of others so that others have to hit their brakes, rolling stops at stop signs and lights, etc., etc. It would be an insurmountable task for one person to keep tabs!

There are too many things in life that we fly by, many times without a second thought. But much to our chagrin, life can come to a screeching halt. Either our lives end or the lives of others, near and dear to our hearts, come to an end before we’ve done or said what we wanted to do…or even worse maybe, what we needed to do.

A couple of verses that we should take to heart,

Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom. Ecclesiastes 9:10 NLT

Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. James 4:17 NLT

Lord Jesus, help us to slow it down, for we know what tomorrow may bring. May we focus on what is truly important and not just expediency. Amen.

Jan 12th, 2002, Wed, 6:35 pm