May we never forget...

Today you may have been asked, “Where were you ten years ago, September 11, 2001?”

But I have a greater question: “Where are you TODAY, September 11, 2011?”

Have we returned to a life of selfish gain and ambition? Do we put our heart and trust in a government and military that cannot save us? Are we ready to meet our Maker?

The morning after that historic day, ten years ago, my Morning and Evening devotional had me read from Nahum 1:2: 

“God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; The LORD avenges and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies…”

The scripture left me with confidence; God was in control! He had ordained all things and He would be victorious!

And what followed in the devotional were the words of Charles Spurgeon:

“Your Lord is very jealous of your love, O believer. Did he choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another. Did he buy you with his own blood? He cannot endure that you should think that you are your own, or that you belong to this world. He loved you with such a love that he would not stop in heaven without you; he would sooner die than you should perish, and he cannot endure that anything should stand between your heart's love and himself. He is very jealous of your trust. He will not permit you to trust in an arm of flesh. He cannot bear that you should hew out broken cisterns, when the overflowing fountain is always free to you. When we lean upon him, he is glad, but when we transfer our dependence to another, when we rely upon our own wisdom, or the wisdom of a friend--worst of all, when we trust in any works of our own, he is displeased, and will chasten us that he may bring us to himself. He is also very jealous of our company. There should be no one with whom we converse so much as with Jesus. To abide in him only, this is true love; but to commune with the world, to find sufficient solace in our carnal comforts, to prefer even the society of our fellow Christians to secret intercourse with him, this is grievous to our jealous Lord. He would fain have us abide in him, and enjoy constant fellowship with himself; and many of the trials which he sends us are for the purpose of weaning our hearts from the creature, and fixing them more closely upon himself. Let this jealousy which would keep us near to Christ be also a comfort to us, for if he loves us so much as to care thus about our love we may be sure that he will suffer nothing to harm us, and will protect us from all our enemies. Oh that we may have grace this day to keep our hearts in sacred chastity for our Beloved alone, with sacred jealousy shutting our eyes to all the fascinations of the world!"

I recall thinking, after first reading those words of Spurgeon, how providential it was that I should read them that day. Could it be that God was so jealous of our affections that He allowed evil to rear its ugly head in order to call us to repentance? Was He calling us to set aside living our selfish, sinful, unfocussed lives? Was He reminding us to dedicate ourselves unto a life of committed service here on earth; prepared to meet Him without a moment’s notice?

So ten years later we are living in a time of relative peace and prosperity. We have certainly slid back into a life of ease and comfort, saying, "Surely today will not be the last of those that God has allotted for me!" May we never start a day thinking this! For God has indeed numbered our days!

So let us be more vigilant to not simply honor the memory of those who have lost their lives, but seek FIRST to honor the Almighty who has ordained all these things! 

May we never forget: to God be the Glory!!