A LIFE WELL SPENT

I suppose it is a sign of growing older when one falls into the habit of reading your favourite part of the newspaper - "20 years ago Today". Just as I turned 60, everything started to hurt and what doesn't hurt, doesn't work. The gleam in my eyes is from the sun-hitting my bifocals. Holiday with the kids, I realized that they begin to look middle aged. I also realized that my mind made contracts which my body couldn't meet. Looking into the mirror I came to terms that my neck size is 17, close to 40 around the waist, and 95 around the golf course, where, I found out that my back goes out more than myself. All this is funny, however, at this age all is also serious stuff. For example, you know what the word "equity" means , you know all the answers, but nobody asks you the questions. Someone said about being old "When you bend over, you look for something else to do while you're down there". Funny! No, it isn't when you realize that kidnappers are not interested in you anymore and that in a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.

After coming home from a recent Zambian holiday, I realized that although I have traveled around the world I have been living in Pretoria for a very long time, and that and when reading the Portuguese newspaper of the local community, I find myself reading the obituary section and the names of friends, acquaintances, business associates written up on those pages. Reality strikes! It is a sobering reminder of our mortality.

Not so long ago, I was saddened to find the photo and the name of an old friend. He had died of an extended illness, fairly common in older folks. The write-up described his accomplishments as a good person, military veteran and well-known expert in the metallurgical field. It went on to detail his love of football and other outdoor interests. It also recounted his exemplary love and devotion to his family.

This fine man was an active man in his church, serving as a deacon and elder with the necessary responsibility within his denomination. He was very well respected and known through the Portuguese Community. He had many friends. Attending the funeral, I was not surprised to see the large chapel filled with his many friends.

A presiding minister offered touching and meaningful eulogy about my old friend, stating that it was, "A life well spent". The service was ended with a prayer asking for console and comfort for the family.

It is not the first time in a funeral that I realize that the words spoken by the ministers were not truly comforting at all. The ministers may have been sincere, but they got it all wrong! More than once they stated that the deceased "is in a better place" and that he is heaven with the Lord looking down on the proceedings. Yet they offered no Scriptural evidence to back their claims, nor did they mention the resurrection of the dead at all.

How is it possible that these Bible scholars got the "Word of God" so wrong? How is it possible that they miss the simple and plain message of the Scriptures in both Old and New Testaments.

In Mark 7:9, Jesus says "You have a fine of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!"

There are still religious leaders today who add rules and regulations to God's Word, causing much confusion to believers. It is idolatry to claim that your interpretation of God's Word is as important as God's Word itself. It is especially dangerous to set up un-biblical standards for others to follow. It is a fact that Jesus wasn't against all tradition, but He was against those who made their traditions as important, if not more important than God's Word. Lacking the truth of Scripture, most professing Christians today have lost their understanding of the purpose of human life and the reward of the "saved". The simple truth is that the early Christians' hope was the resurrection of the dead. The Apostle Paul said in Acts 24:15 on his defense before Felix the following: "And I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked". In 1 Corinthians 15: 50-52, Paul also wrote :"I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. The change he referred to occurs at the resurrection of the dead.

God has a plan and certain things He commanded have to be observed. Jesus kept them, the early church kept them and God's church today still observes them which reveal an understanding of the marvelous plan that God is working out on this earth. Not only you, but everyone can have this understanding too. It is vital, if our lives are to have real meaning, and for us to know what lies ahead for those whom God is calling in this age.