Leaving the Rat Race

"Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken." -Jeremiah 6:16,17.

One thing that I see continually which leads people to destruction, is the incredible "business" of their lives. Being busy, staying busy, has become admirable to our generation. Satan has created activity upon activity, device after device, so that our time will be constantly full- with no time left to consider our eternal destination. In short, the devil is rushing us toward HELL.

The active part of this blog ends today, as I have been directed to do through the Holy Spirit. You may continue to read what is already here, and contact me for any cause which you deem necessary. So this message today is one of closing, and I can't help but seek to leave you with the best advice that God's wisdom can provide. Our first, best move is always to pull away from the world, and draw near unto God. We need to seek & find shelter beneath the "shadow of His wings." - Ruth 2:12, Matt. 23:37.


How is your time being spent? What do you give to your creator, savior, and Lord? Apart from Christ, we can do nothing (John 15:5). Take time to consider in prayer your priorities, knowing that you will give an account to God! Satan has also created mobile devices for us, so that we never have time to ourselves. When all is "quiet", do you find yourself turning on some electronic device? Perhaps at home it is the TV, internet, or stereo. Away from home, it can now be the same! Are you always checking messages, looking at the weather, sports, or whatever may be of interest?

By observation, what evidence is there to convince the world around you of your love for Christ? Or are you just like everyone else? We need ever more prayer, more Bible study, more "hungering and thirsting" after righteousness (Matt. 5:6) in our daily lives; even many times throughout the day. If we are told to crucify the flesh daily (Luke 9:23, Rom. 8:13, Col. 3:5), how is it that we can give up so little of what we find "convenient", moment-by-moment?

Nothing of this Earth will last, or matters. All that will remain are the works founded upon Christ (I Cor. 3:11-15, I John 2:15-17)! I implore you all from the depths of my being, for your own best spiritual health and welfare; do as much as you possibly can to SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM THIS WORLD, and its lying vanities (Jonah 2:8). This should especially include, potentially, even any secular means of "earning a living." So very many have compromised their professed faith in God for their jobs! How is this unlike Esau, selling his birthright for potted stew?

The Lord has changed my life through the following passage, Matthew 6:24-34; reprinted here in its entirety with bold, italicized, and underlining added for emphasis. See and embrace the truth of verse 33! I am not  telling anyone to quit their job; don't quit, submit- to the direction of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought  can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lillies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore TAKE NO THOUGHT, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all thes things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

And yet there is a proof of these promises given in Matt. 15:32-38. Some 4,000 men, beside women & children, had the privelege of fellowship with their creator; for 3 whole days, nothing else mattered! Think of all they heard, and got to see- the temporal concerns of this life could not compare, so they stayed; until they had even run out of food. They probably didn't realize it, but they were living the instruction & promise of Matthew 6:33! True to His Word, Jesus fed them all. Where would our faith be, when we were hungry, and saw but 7 loaves and a few little fishes available to feed all those people? Would we have even  stayed until our food ran out? Real faith, beloved brethren, is unseen (Heb. 11:1).

Maybe we need to lower our standards. I fear that in our culture today, many have lost their ability to distinguish between what is an actual need, and what is merely desireable.

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content." -I Tim. 6:6-8.

"Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit." - Eccl. 4:6.

What really matters to you, brethren? Where are your priorities? Are you trusting in Christ to provide, or only upon your own "arm of flesh"? -Jer. 17:5-8, Psalm 147:10,11. What kind of love do you have for the temporary things of this world? -John 12:25, James 4:4.

Time is very, very short indeed, and we need to prepare. Let's get back to the simplicity of the Word of God, and unconditional obedience to its doctrines (I Tim. 4:16).

"Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against your soul." - I Peter 2:11.

"And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." - Rom. 13:11,12.

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" - Micah 6:8.