News
Dear friends I am writing these lines on the 26th of December. In the last twenty four hours no less than four deaths have caught my attention. The first of these was the death of our dear friend and senior elder Rev. Alasdair Johnston. A gracious and humble servant of the Lord Jesus Christ he was blessed with remarkable health and strength to the very end. He died just a few days short of his 98th birthday. We mourn his passing and we miss his presence.
The second death was that of little Faith Williams the conjoined twin, whose sister, Hope, had died several weeks before. Faith Williams was just one month old. One month old and almost 98 years old, quite a contrast, but also a reminder that we must all die, sooner or later, and “appear before the Judgement seat of Christ.” Whether the course of our lives is very short or whether it runs to almost hundred years the end must come; and when it does, the important question will not be, how long we have lived, but how ready we were when death came. The great issue will be whether our sins have been pardoned and we have found peace with God, adopted into His family and reconciled to Him, through the death of His Son.
The other two deaths, which came to my attention, were from the world of entertainment. The famous playwright Harold Pinter and the American singer and actress Eartha Kitt both passed away. Both of them knew fame and fortune and lavish tributes were paid by equally well-known celebrities. Again this is in quite a contrast with Mr. Johnston who never sought either fame or fortune, but who did seek to live a life well pleasing to God and useful to his fellow men.
However, it does appear that a growing number of people do crave fame. Recent surveys have highlighted the rather astonishing fact that for many young people their great ambition in life is to be famous. No doubt this is due to the growing celebrity cult of our age, but what an empty and shallow ambition it is. Apart from anything else, it is all very short-lived. When a few years have passed, who will remember those folk who achieved a brief moment of fame? Another generation will rise up who have never heard of them. Even supposing we become so well known that 100’s of years later we are still spoken of that will mean nothing at all for our souls, then in eternity. The Bible assures us that it will be no gain supposing we were to get, even the whole world and lose our own souls.
Let your ambition for 2009 be to live a life well pleasing to God, trusting in Jesus as your Saviour that when death comes it will find you ready for eternity.
Yours in His grace,
A word from the manse
