Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins

Just An Ordinary Day Twenty-four hours can be either a happy time – or a time filled with troubles. Sometimes a day can make or break a person’s life for years to come. A new job. A new friend. Opportunities for good can arise in just the time span of one day. One twenty-four hour day. For some of us that day will bring tragic events that affect the rest of our lives. For others, that same day discloses a beautiful breakthrough for us that will be remembered as having given us a future full of joy. A few years ago, one source took one twenty-four hour day and revealed what happens on just an average, ordinary day in America: 9,077 babies will be born. 5,200 people will die. 267 Americans will die in traffic accidents involving alcohol. 5,962 couples will get married. 2,986 couples will get a divorce, a tragedy affecting 2,989 children. 2,795 teen-age girls become pregnant. Another 1,295 teen-age girls give birth. 7,742 teen-agers will become “sexually active,” and 623 will contract some form of sexually transmitted disease. 1,106 teen-age girls will have abortions. 2,556 children will be born to single mothers. 1,100,000 people are in a hospital. 1,070 people will die of cancer. 436 children will be arrested for driving while intoxicated. On just one day! 137 babies will be born with “Fetal – Alcohol – Syndrome", a disease causing deformity, retardation and genetic disorders. All these, and many other tragic events take place every day of the year in our nation. While you and I are going about our daily activities, taking care of our own business, others will come face to face with tragedy, death, loss of health and hope. It would be impossible for us to be aware of all these events, but for many people, today will not be just an ordinary day. A remembered day, yes, but not an ordinary day. For many people this will not be just an “ordinary day,” but a day that changes their lives forever. Can we be of help? Only because we have at our disposal the most potent element ever known – the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is “the power of God unto salvation,” Romans 1:16, and it can make a difference in every person’s life who will embrace it and live in harmony with it. Just an average, ordinary day? No, it will be an extraordinary day for those who seek God’s Word, who love it, study it and live by its precepts. Take a look at those events listed that take place on just an “ordinary day” and consider how the following scriptures can help all of us. Many of us need lessons that can keep us from repeating our mistakes, Ephesians 5:1-12. If you have been harmed by others, note that the apostle Paul suffered for problems that were not his fault, 2 Corinthians 11:20-30. If your choices have put you in danger, remember that others have faced similar suffering, Philippians 1:27-2:12. If you feel you have no hope for the future, don’t forget Saul of Tarsus, who had been responsible for the deaths of many Christians, but those sins were washed away, Acts 22:1-16. The way Christians deal with the time God has given us is not insignificant in the mind of God. Passage after passage reminds us that we should take advantage of every moment of every day. Scripture speaks clearly on this subject: “…exhort one another daily, while it is called today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin,” Hebrews 3:13. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me,” Luke 9:23. “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil,” Ephesians 5:15-16. “Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in revelry and drunkenness, not in licentiousness and lewdness, not in strife and envy.” Romans 13:13 While we are considering the urgency of each day, we should also note that a day is coming – we know not when – with no warning, no last minute chance to be prepared for it. Jesus said: “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come… Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh,” Matthew 24:42, 44. “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape,” 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3. Jesus said His coming would be as a “thief in the night,” without any warning, with no prior ceremony. On just an average day! Should we not be making full use of each hour and each day? Today can be a day of eternal tragedy or blessing for someone, and it may depend on what you and I choose to do and say that will make all the difference. Carl B. Garner

“Short as life is, we make it still shorter by the careless waste of time.” Victor Hugo “Men are often capable of greater things than they perform. They are sent into the world with bills of credit, and seldom draw to their full extent.” Horace Walpole “Lose an hour in the morning and you will spend all day looking for it.” Richard Whaley “The tragedy of life is not so much what men suffer, but rather what they miss.” Thomas Carlyle