There’s the story of an elementary school teacher struggling to get one of her students to understand math and in particular addition. So, one day, she decided to try an illustration. “Johnny” she said, “If you had a nickel which is worth five cents in your right pocket, and you had a dime, which is worth ten cents in your left pocket, what would you have?” Johnny replied, “Somebody else’s pants.”

 Ah yes, it’s that time of year again, where we gather our 1040’s, W-2’s and whatever else we need, to go to our tax accountants, hoping that they can do math a little better than little Johnny as they prepare our income tax forms.

Of course, we’ve all heard the phrase before, that there’s nothing certain in life, except, death and taxes. Now of course, we’d like to try avoiding them both, but the truth be told, no one can escape either one of them (well perhaps taxes if you’re willing to cheat). However, there were in fact two people who, by the grace of God, did escape death, Enoch, the father of Methuselah, and the prophet Elijah.

Now, we don’t know a lot about Enoch, but we know a lot about Elijah. He lived at a time when the nation of Israel was rotting from within. It had an evil king, and the morals of the people had declined to the point that it had become nearly impossible to distinguish the Hebrew people from the surrounding idolatrous nations. In short, Israel had become morally and spiritually bankrupt except for a handful of faithful God-fearing individuals. Is any of this sounding familiar?

 Anyway, Elijah was a bold and zealous servant of God, a defender of the right and a proclaimer of the truth. He didn’t conform to the ways of his wicked society, but rather, the Holy Spirit transformed him, strengthened him, and employed him in the Lord’s work to change the hearts, minds, attitudes, and faiths of the people.

His ministry was a powerful and spectacular one, in which he openly rebuked sins including those of the king, and he continually pointed the people to the true God of heaven and earth…the God of the Bible to get the people to repent and to turn to God that they might escape eternal death.

In any case, for some unknown reason, God had decided to take Elijah to heaven without him having to experience death…that one certainty in life…because while you can perhaps cheat the taxman, there is zero chance that you’ll be cheating death.

So, what’s my point? Well, it has to do with our life’s priorities and the way in which we conduct our lives. Let’s face it, our society very much mirrors that of ancient Israel seen in our turning a blind eye to rampant immorality and sin rather than standing up for what’s right as Elijah did. We have made idols of chrome, steel, and green paper. We’re not interested in what God wants, we’re only interested in what we want. We go through life giving little thought that we’re going to one day have to stand before the Almighty and give an account of ourselves. And this is one thing we won’t be able to cheat our way out of.

So, the question you must ask yourself is this…what kind of an account will you be giving?

Will it be, “Lord, I made You my number one priority! Your Word guided my entire life! I never ever ignored You on Sundays! I am so grateful that You adopted me in my baptism! Finally, thank You, thank You, for sending Jesus to atone for my sins…the gratitude that I have for this gift was continually reflected in my words, deeds, and actions…in much the same way as Elijah.”

Is this what you’ll be saying?

If not…well…I think you already know the solution. Just a reminder, our worship services and Bible studies continue even through these cold winter months so that you will be prepared to meet your Maker.

Until next month….

Pastor Roloff