“To be or not to be.”

“To be or not to be.”

“To be or not to be,” is a very open ended quote. It could mean to be kind or wrathful, generous or penny-pinching, to love or hate, to demand justice or to forgive, but as far as the existence of something or someone, it is or it isn’t. We either exist or we don’t! We have nothing to do with the choice of life, we do not have the right to choose whether we should be born or not. Life happens and we then exist. This is a principle we need to think through carefully. As a baby we find life through birth and then we subsist as we battle along endeavouring to make a mark in this brutal world of ours. Parents push and encourage us to achieve and be the best we can be at whatever we excel at. Our journey has begun, the thought of “to be or not to be” is no longer a factor as far as existence is concerned, we will have many choices to make along the way and sadly some have chosen to end their own lives by suicide.

Our journey of life has one eventual purpose only and that is to pass the test of life and we have been beguiled into chasing straw men as decoys of truth and purpose; education is important, but it will only benefit in this life as it often overlooks God and His purpose for mankind. When did a teacher ever point you to our creator outside of the subject, religious instruction? And even then it was more opinionated than biblical truth. I can honestly say, never can I recall a teacher even provoking me to consider the second death or the upcoming judgement (the White Throne Judgement). King Solomon tested life by personally experiencing all life had to offer, you can read all his findings in the book of Ecclesiastes, yet his final conclusion after all is said and done, READS “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." Now where in this world with all its drives and passions were we ever taught this truth? Where are you kids being taught this truth, the accountability lies with you the parents? It is a blessing of God to be blessed with children, but with it comes a massive responsibility. Every person ever born will face the judgement seat of God. Yes not all will be judged for sin as the Lord Jesus has paid the price of sin for many, but they will sit before the Lord as their works will be judged. So either way, all and sundry will and must sit in judgement before an Almighty God. This is a fact and no one will be exempt of this truth, and I say again, not one will cunningly slip through the ranks and avoid judgement, all must stand before the Lord and be judged. That means you, me and your children. What a massive responsibility we as parents have. May God open our eyes to understand the importance of this? We must at every opportunity point them to Christ and the price He paid for sin, and more so, for their sin.

We form many habits and I am not sure they are all good practices. We often suppose something to be right and therefore act without giving it much thought. Let me explain my thinking. We celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ, but nowhere is scripture are we told to remember His birth. So then where did we get it from? We do things because by traditions of men they have been handed down to us through generations, it did not come from God.

We are told however to remember Christ’s death, and we are also told to do this as often as we would remember Him; (1Corinthians 11:25) “in the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." So we must not necessary remember His birth, BUT we must remember his death, because it is his sacrifice that has given us life (all those who believe). Do you see the subtleties through various decoys life throws at us? Unpack your life and see what it consists of and then ask yourself why and for what purpose do I do what I do? It will be a good exercise. May God the Holy Ghost expose all the straw men in our lives and equip us to find the resolve through grace to put off what needs to be shed and put on what will glorify our Maker.

Today is a day that a man many years ago found the resolve to oppose a system of total dominance which was full of straw men. On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church, he took on the whole Catholic Church with the Bible as his final authority and pinned his decree upon the “door of lies.” “To be or not to be”, he chose to be counted.

Today is Reformation Day, it is also Halloween, and it is also the day I was born. We never had a choice of coming into this world, but we do have a choice to be voices in a dying world, so what will we do?

Signing off

Tyrone