Be Aware, Don’t Assume You Are Safe
Ed, my old neighbor from Saskatchewan, always checks to hear if there was a recent crime in our neighborhood. There has been a stabbing, bank robbery, and murder in our neighborhood in the year we have been here. It isn’t just our city, where crime is relentless. I asked Ed if there was now no crime in Melville, Saskatchewan, and his answer was that our lawlessness seemed more interesting to him than the crime there.
Crime is always ready to attack the unaware. I reported when Ed called yesterday that a couple went to our city hospital for a procedure for the husband. While the wife waited for her husband in the waiting room, her purse was stolen. She reported it to the police from the hospital. When her husband came from his procedure, they went to their car in the parking lot. There they found a man starting their car. The thief had the wife’s car keys from her stolen purse. The husband tried to stop the thief from stealing their car. The driver of the stolen car ran the owner of the car down. The owner of the car sustained two broken legs. Criminals have no concern for their innocent victims.Â
There is a constant battle when one lives in a big city to avoid crime if at all possible. It calls for vigilance at all times because you can never tell the intentions of people near you even in a hospital waiting room. Many folks are honest and respectful of others, but there are some who are ready to victimize others at every opportunity. In a large city, one cannot take for granted that they or their possessions are safe. Everyone must strive and not let their guard down against possible crime. Villains can pick on anyone but especially those not on their guard. How many live as if they are immune to crime? It does not matter how much crime there is in an area. What counts is if you are a victim of the offense.
Do we take our Christian faith for granted day by day? Someone asked Jesus, “Will those who are saved be few?” The questioner was referring to the belief that most Jews would go to heaven. Jesus spoke plainly of a coming heaven and hell but not how many would be in each. Jesus made it a teaching answer to the crowd listening to him. Jesus replied that it is not how many will be saved but ask yourself will you be among the saved. Jesus warned the people that they must strive or be on their guard for the door to salvation is narrow and only open for a limited time.
Jesus was and is the narrow doorway to heaven. That narrow doorway cannot be entered and kept clear without a personal battle on our part. Soul-destroying temptations and sins can destroy faith in Jesus. Faith can get choked out by pain, pleasure, possessions, the excessive indulgence of alcohol (drugs), and the love of money, just to name a few things. Jesus warned that everyone would not make it into heaven. We are to battle against our sin to keep us in line for heaven. (Luke 13:22-30)
