What an interesting week.  First, the violent weather patterns of this Spring continue.  Tornadoes and hailstorms struck dozens of communities in the Midwest, including a powerful tornado destroying communities in Iowa and here in Minnesota this past weekend.  Marlys and I had spent the weekend in Ankeny, IA, helping with some spring cleaning at our son's home there.  When we arrived home on Monday night, we found that our house had been damaged because of hail.  But, at least it was still in one piece.  I wrote a blog article on the increase in violent weather and what it might mean.  You can find it by either going to www.villageschoolstoday.blogspot.com or just going to our website www.vsb.net and clicking on the link.  For those of you who have read the book titled "The Shack," I have several articles there on that book.  Second, it was an interesting week in Israel as the government of Prime Minister Olmert seems poised for collapse soon.  The Prime Minister is under a dark cloud of suspicion for taking bribes and other money during his time as Mayor of Jerusalem.  From reports received from Israel, it looks like new elections will be called for in late fall.  So, what is God up to now?  I am certainly glad He is in charge.

We want to continue our dialogue in John 8 this week, focusing upon verses 21-30.  The theme of these verses is a clear presentation of the need for salvation and the consequences of failing to heed that salvation.  Jesus begins by telling His opponents that He is going away, and that, after He is gone, they will realize what they have missed.  They will search for Him and not find Him and will discover their mistake too late.  They had missed their moment of opportunity.  Now I am certainly that every one of you can join me in admitting that opportunities have been missed in your lives.  You stand there, looking back, and say to yourself, "How could I have been so blind as to have missed that opportunity?"  Fortunately, for many of us, those missed opportunities did not lead to any serious consequences.  But, what if you missed your opportunity for salvation?  That is the conversation Jesus is having with the Pharisees. 

In this passage I discover three truths about opportunities.  First, there are opportunities which come and never return.  We lament, "Oh, if only I could do it over again!"  But, we never have that moment.  Seldom do we have the opportunity Jonah had of starting over again.  Usually we experiences the consequences of our choices.  It was Robert Frost who wrote, Two roads diverged in a yellow wood...and I took the one less traveled by, and it has made all the difference.  When the opportunity for salvation comes, we need to heed the words of the Apostle Paul, "Today is our time for salvation."  The second truth is this: time and life are limited.  No one has all the time in the world, nor does man have unlimited life.  Listen to these words from Moses: You turn men back to dust, saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men."  For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.  You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning - though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered. ... The length of our days is seventy years - or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.  Who knows the power of your anger?  For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.  Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:3-6, 10-12).  You and I simply have no guarantees as to our lives.  And thirdly, just as there are opportunities in life, there are also opportunities for judgment.  To refuse to choose salvation, is to instead choose judgment. 

What happens if a man or woman fails the opportunity for salvation?  Jesus strongly asserts in verses 21 and 24 that that person will die in his or her sins.  To die with one's sins unrepented and unatoned for is the supreme disaster in life.  We know that the word "sin" comes from the Greek word that can mean "to miss the target."  The person who refuses to accept Jesus as his or her own Savior has truly missed the target of life - the reason why God created him or her in the first place.  In God's eyes he or she dies a failure and incomplete.  But the word "sin" can also describe separation from God.  When Adam and Eve first sinned, what did they do?  They hid themselves from God.  They separated themselves from Him.  To refuse God is to be a stranger to God.  It is a tragedy to be separated from God in this life, but a greater tragedy to be separated from Him for all of eternity. 

As I read this short text, I think one of the great truths Jesus is proclaiming is: The greatest responsibility of life is the preparation for death.  The Bible tells us that it is appointed unto man - that is, you and me - once to die and after this the judgment.  There are only two ways a man may approach death - either as a child of God or a child of Satan.  And it all has to do with how you use that opportunity of the invitation for salvation. 

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: Opportunity is often missed because we are broadcasting when we should be tuning in.  (National Safety News)