HERE IN THE REAL WORLD

Beasts of burden come in many different varieties. There are the riding animals. You know the ones that you throw a saddle over and they carry you where you need to go. Much like the caring mothers who have their babes in arms or on hips or in laps. Those mothers who carry their babies with them where ever they go. They look after them tending to their every need.

Then there are the pack animals. Much like the mounts they carry everything needed. You know the type. They are mothers who are prepared for whatever lay in store. Maybe it is a diaper bag packed with extra food for the trip. Extra clothes. Extra everything!

Let us not forget the harness animals. You know the ones that are harnessed to something to pull it. Much like mothers that are harnessed to the every need of the family. They are harnessed to a soccer field. They are harnessed to homework. They are harnessed to a stove. And when things aren’t going as well as should be, they are harnessed to a family and are the glue that holds it together.

Is it any wonder that God said, “Honour thy father and thy mother” (Exodus 20:12). They look out for our every need. Mothers are true beast of burden. But whereas a real beast of burden my only do one task (harness, or riding, or pack), a mother does it all. Even when they aren’t sure what lies ahead they are willing to do what needs to be done. Their families are put first. Look at Mary’s words, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38). Mary didn’t understand all that was about to happen, yet putting herself second she rose to the occasion. Following the lead of Mary our mothers don’t always know what lies ahead in motherhood, yet they rise to the occasion.

Biology doesn’t make a mother; Love makes a mother. Love turns a woman into a beast of burden. To all the mothers out Happy mother’s day! To all the children we must remember that from the cross Christ made sure his mother was looked after; let us see that our mothers are cared for also.

Until next time May The Good Lord Bless And Keep You: All Y’all!

Bobby

Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
cohoon@embarqmail.com

No one can argue that we live in the most automated of times. Almost every aspect of our lives is automated, mechanical, speed and ease is the name of the game. Cashiers have been replaced by “check your self out” registers. You can get money out of your bank without seeing a teller. Cooking time has been cut drastically by microwave ovens. Mechanics can tell what’s wrong with your car simply by hooking it up to a machine: they don’t even have to get dirty! Is that all that has become mechanical in our lives? Have we in some respects reduce our service to a series of mechanical actions?

In Luke 11:1, one of Christ’s disciples can and said, “teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” The words that Jesus then spoke have become probably the most famous prayer ever. We call it the Lord’s Prayer. It is said more than any other prayer. It is memorized early in life by most Christians. But, the question is HOW is it said? Has it been said so much that it is just a habit? Is it a mechanical part of our lives that contains no feeling or thought? Does it allow us to go through the motions without putting forth any effort? Did Christ give us this prayer to be a mechanical prayer that could be said on the run from memory without putting forth and effort? Or, was the “Lord’s Prayer” a model of how we should pray? Was it an outline of the things we should pray for and not the exact prayer that should be committed to memory to allow us to be able to go through the motions of Christianity while all we are doing is participating in a “fast food” religion?

On the night He was betrayed, concerning the Lord’s Supper Jesus said, “this do in remembrance of me” (I Corinthians 11:24). Yet, today this has become a ritual that is done from habit. It can be the coldest minutes of the service. In some churches should someone come in who knew nothing about the Lord’s Supper, they’d leave with the same knowledge they came in with. We go through the Lord’s Supper with all the mechanical precision of a skilled surgeon. Many people partake and yet have no clue what they are taking. Doesn’t a supper of this type deserve just a hit more?

Today’s world has changed drastically from the world I was born in (which had changed from the world my parents were born in). Today we are busier than ever and most things we do are “on the run.” Isn’t it time we slowed down and worshipped the risen Lord instead of running about in our fast food lives and settling for a McJesus?

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Until next time May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You: All Y’all!

Bobby
Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
cohoon@embarqmail.com

A few weeks ago I mentioned a friend of mine named Melvin who was struggling with mesothelioma. I asked for prayers for him. Tonight Melvin is resting comfortably in Heaven. He went home early this morning. Healings come in many ways.

The book of Job records, “Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass” (Job 14:5). If our days are numbered, one thing we don’t know is that number. While it was obvious last week that Melvin would soon be with the Lord, no one knew when he would go. Last Friday, when I was told the he hadn’t opened his eyes in two days I knew the end was probably very near. Yet, while I was in good health and Melvin wasn’t I was reminded of this verse. And I thought, “my days end could come before his.” The certainty of death is a good reminder of the uncertainty of life.

With all of our intelligence two things we don’t know are when we will die and when Christ will return. Will the “number of my months” end with a physical death in old age and thus let me lead a reckless life up to the point where I think the end is near then repent? Or, will they end early in life by some disease or accident of which time I have no way of knowing? Or, will the end when Christ returns? With no certainty each day should be lived as th0ugh our life support has just been turned off.

As painful as death can be, it can serve to be a reminder that we are to live our lives everyday for Christ. Death should be something that we keep before us more often than we do as death is a reminder of life: a life ever lasting with Christ.

Continue to keep the family of Melvin C. Hooker In your prayers that THIS phase of their lives will work for the Kingdom of God.

The rose still grows beyond the wall.
Scattering fragrance far and wide,
Just as it did in days of yore.
Just as it did on the other side,
Just as it will forevermore.

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Until next time May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You: All Y’all!

Bobby

Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
cohoon@embarqmail.com

No, I am not talking about Barak Obama, Hilary Clinton, or John McCain. It’s that time of year again when the nests of our homes are going to become empty. In the next few weeks most of our colleges will graduate their seniors and in the few weeks after that most of the high schools will graduate their seniors. In both cases those who graduate will set out to make their mark on the world. Hopefully the schools have given them the education needed for the quest. But, more than that, I hope homes have grounded them well in God for the life quests that the face.

David said to Solomon, “Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed; for Jehovah God, even my God, is with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until all the work for the service of the house of Jehovah be finished” (I Chronicles 28:20). For the newly graduated, by they high school or college, the world is a new wide open adventure. There will be every type of temtptation known to man waiting for those who have their first taste of freedom. But if they are well grounded in the faith those temptations can be met and defeated.

Of course their will be failures along the way. If not their wouldn’t be growth. But with each temptation it can be met with strength and good courage. Each temtptation should be met with courage because God is with them. Our future leaders can grow daily and change this world for the good if they keep their focus on God. David said, “[God] will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” But their work has to be done with a focus on God.

It starts with one. God is only one. But, through that one focused on God this world can change. Because just as sin seems to be contagious, righteousness can be just as contagious. James wrote, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). While he is fleeing we need to be pushing forward to the everlasting arms.

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Until next time May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You: All Y’all!

Bobby
Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
cohoon@embarqmail.com