I was on my way back to Croton Manner, from Sanford, when my older sister called to inform me that my younger sister had had a stroke. After all the testing in the hospital, it was found that she has had many strokes over time. She’ll be seventy-six in September, so her situation is precarious. There can’t be much time left for her, or any of us for that matter.
I asked, “Do you think I can call her? I mean, I don’t want to get you in trouble if I’m not supposed to know about this.”
My younger sister and I don’t get along very well. We are very different people and our differences are so profound that they make us incompatible. She and her husband always want to talk about their liberal politics, which is offensive to me, and I want to talk about Jesus and the Bible, which is offensive to her. The result is that we have drifted apart over the years and we don’t speak directly very often.
My older sister replied, “Sure, I think that would be okay,” she hesitated, searching for words, then added, “Just don’t talk about prayer.”
Now I hadn’t heard from my older sister in a few months, but the last few times we talked, we talked about problems she was having within her family. I assured her, each time we talked, that I would be praying for the situation. And, indeed the situation got better, but I couldn’t help but notice that her regular updates turned to text messages, and not to me, but to my wife. So, with that background, her request that I not talk about prayer takes on a more serious aspect.
It makes clear to me what I’ve known all along, that my sisters are lost in the Wilderness of Sin. They both well know who Jesus is but they have chosen to deny Him. I have known for a very long time that they don’t want me to talk about Him, but to say that they don’t want me even to talk about prayer? That brings their lostness to a whole new level.
My sisters, like so many in America and in the world, live their lives in the shadowlands of the permissive will of God. That is a place where people, in all their pride and hubris, believe they can live in God’s mercy while denying, even distaining His grace. I call it The Gray Empire, a place where there is no right or wrong, no darkness, no light, no truth, no need to choose one or the other. It is a place of shadows and gray nothingness where people think they can live their lives in any selfish way they please. The gray mist of half-truths and errant knowledge masks the reality that our whole existence has a purpose in God. That purpose is revealed to us in the Holy Bible, God’s word, His message of love and life. The Bible is God’s instruction manual for our lives on the earth, and on into eternity beyond.
You see, God is on the move. He is moving from darkness to light and He wants every one of us to go with Him to a new and better place. To do so, we must learn the proper disciplines. We must choose our way and grow, in faith, from selfishness to unselfishness. In the book of Joshua, 24:14-15, the scripture tells us, “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
“Choose this day…” that instruction is our most important purpose in life. But, if you’re living in the Gray Empire, if you’ve been deluded and blinded by spiritual depravity, then you are completely oblivious to the reality of our purpose. In truth, you are standing on the side of darkness in the midst of a war with God. The Gray Empire is a myth. The fog you see around you is the fog of war. In truth, there is only darkness or light in this world, and the line between them is as sharp as a razor, separating soul from flesh. In a favorite scene from the movie, “The Matrix”, Morpheus says to Neo, “It is the world pulled down over your eyes to blind you from the truth.” The “It”, is The Gray Empire. It is a lie created by Satan, who is the father of lies and the enemy of God. He is also the enemy of mankind, who are made in God’s Image.
God has long been at war with the darkness that opposes Him while being sustained by His grace and mercy. Soon, however, when God has had enough of the abuse, He will withdraw both His grace and His mercy, and the darkness will be cast off like a filthy, battered cloak. Everyone who has chosen the darkness will be cast off with it.
God is moving to the light. If you want to be on the train with Him, you must choose light over darkness. You must choose God’s Kingdom over The Gray Empire. Once you make that choice, the ticket for this ride is free. It requires nothing of you but to take hold of it when it’s handed to you. That ticket is your faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He stands at the door of your heart and knocks. If you will shake off the fog that has deluded you, and open the door, He will come in and give you the gift of eternal life with Him, in paradise.
Jesus lives today. The tomb is empty. He sits on His throne at the right hand of God, The Father, and He will be returning soon to claim His victory over darkness and to utterly destroy the Gray Empire that is Satan’s lie. When Jesus returns in power and glory, it will be too late to choose. I caution you, don’t wait any longer, the train to Paradise is about to leave the station.
Castaways Point 