an "oops" moment

Matthew 16

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples,

"If any of you wants to be my follower,

you must turn from your selfish ambition,

take up your cross,

and follow me.

25 If you try to hang on to your life,

you will lose it.

But if you give up your life for my sake,

you will save it.

26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world

but lose your own soul?

Is anything worth more than your soul?

We live in an extraordinary & troubling time.

There seems to be so many people achieving ascendancy for all the wrong reasons

with no one even seeming to try to stop them or hold them accountable.

There seems to be a thorough going attitude of “anything goes”.

Anything...

More than ever, there seems to be no absolutes, except that there are no absolutes...

which makes that statement mutually exclusive, right?

I see all kinds of people rise to prominence &/or power who have no reason or qualifications to have either

And they all seem to be getting away with it all.

But in the back of my mind, there is this niggling verse spoken by Jesus...

“What is the benefit if you gain ____________________ but lose your own soul?”

You & I can fill in the blank for many of the people in the forefront of our world.

Remembering that verse helps me forebear some of them...

...not condone their behavior, or accept the heinous things they do...

but to remember that their triumph is short lived.

Eventually, we all stand butt naked before God & give an account – me, you, everyone.

And no matter what heinous things people are or do in this world, I suppose we should extend at least a sliver of compassion.

Unfortunately, some of the people who are presently enjoying prestige, power, prominence, position, &/or prosperity, one day, as a friend of mine likes to say, those people are going to have a very, very difficult “oops” moment.

And why should we extend compassion to people barreling headstrong toward that “oops” moment?

Because, you see, as I have grown older, I think I have come to grasp & appreciate the concept that eternity is a very, very long time.

And I don't want anyone – no matter who they are, or what they've done – to spend eternity separated from God.