Pastor's Corner: A word for today

Sam writes friends back home, “My wife and I went to a ‘Dude Ranch’ in Montana. The cowboy preparing the horses asked if she wanted a Western or English saddle, and she asked what the difference was.

“He told her one had a horn and one didn’t, she replied, ‘The one without the horn is fine. I don’t expect we’ll run into too much traffic.’” Happy trails!

Healing Scripture: Psalm 22: 30-31 “Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn. He has done it” (NIV). John 19:30 “It is finished!” (AMP)

Good morning, the word for today is gamble — to take risky action in the hope of a desired result. To place our trust in our possessions, our networks, our personal net worth seems valuable in our temporal time-zone and we spend much time in this gathering of earthly importance. Often we take risks with our hard-earned capital — sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. Trusting in Jesus Christ is never a gamble — it is the safest decision we can make during our lifetime! God’s love letter to us states clearly in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” All things.

Of all the people at the cross on Golgotha that day, most focused on the wrong thing — death, dying, revenge, “justice,” loss or getting their own way. But a handful noticed; and of that handful, some, no doubt, believed in their hearts. The thief on the cross who focused on the only thing that mattered asked Jesus to remember him — he knew.  And don’t forget the soldier. Some gambled for Jesus’ clothing as a momento of their blood-thirsty victory of that day but there were other soldiers. Matthew 27:54 “Now when the centurion (I remember John Wayne played this part in an old movie), and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, ‘Truly this was the Son of God.’” Now, wouldn’t a conversation with those guys be interesting? 

Blessings for your journey!

Pastor Barbara Ulrich

First Baptist Church