Tag Archives: drifting off course

Living Without God

Upon rolling out of bed, many Americans turn to the weather channel to  help answer the question, “what should I wear today?”  After a relaxing bath or shower, breakfast is on your mind before you hustle out the door.  Perhaps, you’ll have a few minutes to reply to emails, catch up on Facebook or text a friend.  Nonetheless, a morning without God often leads to days, weeks or months alone and on your own.

C.S. Lewis illustrates this truth in Mere Christianity through a chapter entitled “We Have Cause to Be Uneasy.”  Essentially, the longer you go off course, Matthew 7:13-14, without making the Lord a priority, the harder it is to return.  Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Less Traveled,” symbolizes the fork in the road of life.  While those living without God chose instant gratification, pleasure and sinful delights; those who take the other path are ridiculed, scrutinized and rejected by social media.  Despite the initial pain, a guiding light leads the way, Galatians 5:25, greater than the Force in Star Wars.

Today, it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realize living without God has become a societal trend.  If you listen to the words of an average conversations, absorb the lyrics of blaring music passing by or see the lack of joy in people’s faces, God is no where to be found.  Its no wonder that desperate souls keep looking for love in all the wrong places, void of progress and peace.  I’m not sure what people are waiting for, yet God has his perfect timing, Ecclesiastes 3.  In these last days, may prodigal sons and daughters come home soon before its too late to return to the living God.

by Jay Mankus

Drifting Off Course

It’s hard to believe that after a first weeks, most of my New Year resolutions have gone up in smoke as I drift off course, not following several of my goals for 2014.  My workout sessions didn’t last a week, eating healthy never got off the ground and others high hopes faded from the enthusiasm of a clean slate.  As I drove to work this morning, my biggest disappointment is the lack of leadership I have displayed in charting out a new course for the future.

Life as many of you know, involves ebbs and flows, highs and lows and periods of coasting where I find myself presently.  Caught in a state of transition, I’m not sure what I should commit to, where to invest my time and how my current financial position will be impacted by Obama Care and an economy propped up by a mirage.  In moment’s like this, true leaders blaze a new trail, see light beyond the darkness and become a rock of faith for their family.

In my current condition, this is impossible.  Fortunately, history reveals a message of optimism for those of you who have drifted off course.  Matthew 19:16-20 shares a story about a young man who on the surface appeared to have his act together.  Jesus, realizing this individual was trying on his own to earn eternal life, throws a curve ball sending the man away sad and causing his own disciples to question their own faith.  However, the point of this encounter is to teach the masses that with God, all things are possible, Matthew 19:25-26.  May this news turn your day and year around!

by Jay Mankus