Dr. Paul Kalanithi read the CT scan. He could clearly see tumors matting the lungs and deforming the spine. As a resident in neurosurgery in his final year of training at Stanford, he’d seen plenty of such scans before. But this time, the scan was his own.
Source: ‘When Breath Becomes Air:’ a dying doctor’s memoir teaches about love and loss
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If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land, (2 Chronicles 7:14).
The Pilgrims’ religion dominated their everyday lives. In spite of brutal living conditions, they celebrated the first Thanksgiving in 1621.
Source: The Pilgrims’ Religion – Faith That Inspired Thanksgiving
There is a litany of Scriptures counselling us against fear. Scriptures like:
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34. And: “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.
Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” Luke 12:22-26, are among some of the most quoted ones.
Still, despite the positive energy those Scriptures emit, everybody has fears. And, depending on one’s priorities, fear can either be spiritual or temporal. And sometimes both.
According to my dictionary, “Fear is a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, whether real or imagined”.
Honestly, my biggest fear is spiritual. And it has to do with Jesus’ return, and I am not ready. There is no one among us who can predict the future. One could be in a state of readiness today, and the Bridegroom returns tomorrow and you are not ready.
Everybody remembers the parable of the ten virgins Jesus told His disciple on the Mount of Olives. (Matthew 25:1-13). The only reason the five foolish virgins did not meet the Bridegroom was because they ran out of oil. And it could happen to you.
What is your biggest fear?
The parable of the wedding feast which Jesus told in Matthew 22:1-14 gives us a preview of what everyone’s reality will be like when you come face-to-face with the judgement seat. The parable seems to suggest the main character; the king, will only greet guests who wear the appropriate garment to the wedding feast. And the rest of us, who are not in the wedding garment, he instructs his servants to cast into the darkness where there is gnashing of teeth.
Even though the parable may sounds like a fairy tale, there is a real end time message embedded in there. Further, Jesus did not tell parables because he likes them. He told them to simplify His message.
However, the main point of the parable is this: Many are invited to the wedding feast, but only few will be chosen to partake in the main course. Here is the parable:
Matthew 22:1-14 New Living Translation (NLT)
Parable of the Great Feast
Jesus also told them other parables. He said, “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!
“So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their way, one to his farm, another to his business. Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them.
“The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.
“But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
“For many are called, but few are chosen.”
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