Are we losing the human race?

(written in Aug. 1995)

   This year has been filled with so much violence, with the Oklahoma City bombing, the nerve gas terrorism in Japan, two small children being drowned in their family's car, and two other children died in a locked car where the windows were rolled up on an extremely hot day.  These are only some of the news items that were press worthy.

   There are millions of other acts of violence that we never even hear about (though now with the internet, more news is available).  In the mindset of our world, human life has been devalued to the point where the taking of a life has been so trivialized.

   There is no specific target age range, it is all the way from the unborn to the elderly, and everyone in between.  I heard a story one time about a couple of guys who were cruising.  They stopped at a stop light.  The passenger got out with a gun and shot the driver in the car next to theirs six times in the head.  When asked why, his reasoning was, "He was checking me out."

   That is so ridiculous, but I'm sure you've heard of similar stories.  I once sat on a jury for a case in which somebody was killed over refusing to serve a beer to a party crasher.  Now a 20 year old will spend a significant part of his life behind bars.

   So are we losing or have we already lost the human race?  Although evil and sin continue around us, we have hope in Jesus Christ.  The solution is in the education and edification of people that they are loved and lovable.

   We must reach out to others and show them the Jesus that we know.  God has no hands or feet on Earth but ours.

   This doesn't necessarily mean preaching on a street corner or becoming a missionary in a far off land.  We must set the example of love right where we are planted.  Some years ago I considered traveling to do missionary work, but I felt God telling me my mission is right here, where I am.  Bloom where you are planted.

   Jesus will reach out to many through you, but that is only possible if you say, "Yes Lord, use me."  Also don't look for results, just plant the seeds and feed those already planted.  God doesn't ask us to be successful, only to be faithful.  The harvest (results) will be realized in God's time, in God's way.

   So the question on which to focus is not, "Are we losing the human race?", but "Are we extending the kingdom of God?"  Our labor for our Lord Jesus is a life-long task.  Say, "Yes Lord, use me!!!"