"You nee not worry abut your future." That's a solid truth that I can hang onto and I didn't need a fortune cookie to tell me what I already know. Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the mount that we don't need to and shouldn't worry about anything. He continues to tell us that the Father is clearly in control and we should put all of our trust in him. Then he finishes off telling believers that he will always be with us even to "the end of time." When I first read this truth I was a very young Christian and my response was to do just that. It wasn't until I let the cares of the world begin to wear me down that I doubted the Word. Perhaps you too have once had that place in your Christian life where you were content because you KNEW that the Father was in control, that Jesus had cancelled out your sin, and that the Holy Spirit was with you always. Perhaps you too let the cares of the world wear down your faith and belief to the point you were unsure of everything. You aren't alone. That "wearing down" of the spiritual life has been present since Adam and Eve were disobedient to God in the garden. Even the great saints in the Bible found themselves there at one time or another.
The fortune cookie has always been a fascination of people. One almost looks forward to the end of dinner and the check knowing there will be a fortune cookie there waiting to input it's wisdom into your life. The anticipation of opening the plastic covered prediction and then the sharing with those around your table is almost as cathartic as the meal itself. People laugh at one fortune while questioning another. The obsession brings you back to that place for a "refresher" from time to time. Why can't we, as Christians, do the same with our Bible reading? Where is the excitement in our devotions and learning new stuff on an ongoing basis? People for the most part don't have that excitement at finding truths and encouragement from the Bible. We tend to put to much seriousness into the reading of the Bible. I once was advised to read through the Bible in the following ways: read it as history, read it as life giving, and read it as encouragement. The Bible is a living book with real implications for our daily lives.
So why do people who claim to be Christians live with such thin strands of hope holding them and their world together? Why is it we find ourselves taking additional input from the likes of fortune cookies in order to keep our hope up? The Bible says that God knows all of the days of our life from before we were born through the transition to living in heaven with him. The Bible says that we are forgiven of ALL sin and that sin is forgotten by the Father when we take Jesus to be our Savior. The Bible says that ALL of our needs will be met by God. The Bible says that we should take hope in his return to take us home. You don't need a fortune cookie for that. All you need is to make a choice and trust in Christ. It's always your choice.
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