Protection

I have just had a cancerous lump removed from my ear and Audrey had one removed from her nose 3 years ago. Now we are told that the reason we have had these problems is that we didn’t protect our fair skin from the Ultra Violet Rays of the sun when we were younger, but you see, no one warned us about the dangers of U.V. rays when we were younger. Just the opposite; the beaches were crowded with people sunbaking to get a tan and they used no Sunscreen as they do to-day. Some people say “ignorance is bliss” or “what you don’t know won’t hurt you”, which is a load of rubbish, and is the equivalent of the proverbial Ostrich with its head in the sand so it won’t see danger approaching and get hurt.

Lots of things are detrimental to our health or wellbeing, like these rays, and are very subtle in their approach. Take rabbits as an example: the early settlers who came to Australia brought 2 rabbits with them (what harm could that possibly do?) what harm indeed; when I was a boy, every property that I knew was inundated with thousands of them and they ate all the vegetation sending farmers bankrupt. Consequently, the Government made farmers and graziers fence their land with rabbit proof netting fences so they could be controlled. (What harm could a netting fence possibly do?) Well, for starters, they cause the death of many Emu Chicks.

Audrey and I had a pet Emu chicken we named “Dobby”, and the rabbits, and their netting fence, were the reason we had him. You see Dobby’s mother had several babies and her husband was taking them out for a walk (the male looks after the chicks), and he came to a “rabbit-proof” fence that had a hole in the netting made by a Kangaroo, Mr Emu jumped over the fence and all the babies found the hole and joined him on the other side, except Dobby who didn’t see the hole and was left behind, when we found him he was about to be killed by a crow so Audrey took him home and he became part of our family. After all, he had 2 legs like we did, so fitted in very well. One day, when he was about the size of a large chook, he walked down to the cow yard with me and as I was repairing a fence he was about a 100 meters away eating grass or herbage, when to my horror I heard him “screaming” Peeeep, Peeeep, as loud as he could and I saw him racing toward me as fast as his legs could carry him because a large Wedge-tailed Eagle was diving at him. Fortunately, it saw me and decided to abort its decision to kill Dobby and flew up into the wide blue yonder leaving Dobby hiding between my legs.

Like Dobby, whose life was endangered because of a long line of circumstances that in themselves seemed quite innocent, we often find that over the years we can also become trapped by things that seemed innocent enough in the first place but we really need help to overcome the problems they caused. I’m thinking of things like alcohol, gambling, resentment, selfishness, greed, immoral behaviour and such that can gradually control our life. However just as Dobby was rescued by us from the circumstances in which he found himself and over which he had no control, so it is that God is offering to release us from any bondage we now have that is keeping us from fellowship with Him. He has no charge whatever for this, and absolutely no criticism either, with loving statements like: “Come unto me all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest”. “I will be with you in trouble; I will deliver you and honour you, with long life I will satisfy you, and show you my salvation” (Matthew 11:28 & Psalm 91:15), and He assures us in John 6: 37 that “he that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out” and the story He told of the Prodigal son bears witness to that in no uncertain manner: (Luke chapter15, verses 11 to 31). Realise that in doing this it is not that God overlooks the sin in our lives that would normally keep us separated from Him, but when we repent and turn to Him, that action automatically activates the forgiveness, that was bought for us by Jesus death and resurrection: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).

Of course there are lots of other verses that also confirm God’s unlimited love for us, His Children, He just wants us to repent and come to Him so that as a loving Father he can bless us and guide us now, and on into Eternity.

Kind regards, Tom.

 

Queen’s Birthday Weekend

As soon as I hear someone mention the Queen’s Birthday I always see this picture in my mind because this is how I saw her and the Duke of Edinburgh in 1954 as they drove past me: I was fortunate to be in the army then and part of a Guard of Honour for them as they visited Sydney. The Queen is elderly now as is my wife, although Audrey is a few years’ younger. Strangely, my mind has this image of both of them as youthful and refuses to

see either of them as old. In some ways
there is truth in this as I do not believe that the real person, (that we describe as the Soul), ever ages beyond about 30. Audrey, for her part, always had a youthful approach to whatever she did (look at her here at the Kelso Border Leicester sale in Victoria in 1968), and the Queen has set a very good example in her marriage and in whatever she has been involved in.

Oh I know you can criticise royalty, but who can’t you criticise? I guarantee that if we become a Republic and replace her with a President, then that President will cop a lot more “flack” than the Queen ever did (and will probably deserve it too).

The Queen has always been aware of the fact that God is to be revered: at her Majesty’s coronation, the Archbishop of Canterbury (as he placed the crown on her head) recited words saying that she had the right to wear it until Jesus, to whom it rightfully belongs, comes back to rule. Her majesty is also head of the Anglican (Christian) Church. Therefore, as a Christian nation established by England, Australia was delighted to accept Elizabeth as the figurehead of our Democracy and whenever our National Anthem was required we willingly sang “God Save the Queen”, just as we sang “God Save the King” when her father King George the 6 th, was alive. That National Anthem was sung very frequently in Australia, (at school Assemblies and all sporting events) in doing so we acknowledged that God was in charge, which was a very worthwhile reminder. However, ostensibly, to save confusion at the Olympic Games and so on, some years ago the Government adopted a different Anthem so we now sing “Advance Australia Fair”, which is quite a nice “Jingoistic” song but the word “God” is conspicuous by its absence. During the same decade, the mention of God in our public school curriculum was prohibited and it supports the idea that there is no sign of intelligent design in the Universe.  Flowers like this Gerbera and Orchid apparently designed themselves even though they have no minds or brains.

Sunday was a day of rest and worship so no shops, apart from corner stores, were allowed to open. Now all that has changed and Sunday is a day for organised sport and shopping.

To a large extent, the Old Testament in the Bible is an historical record of how God endeavoured to guide the Israeli people and if we care to look at the books of Kings and Chronicles we will find that God blessed that nation when they honoured Him but “pulled the plug” on them when they strayed away and ignored Him; even to the extent that He “encouraged” the Babylonians to defeat them and take them into captivity for many years. I fear that is now happening to our nation too. Also “Wisdom comes from God” and if we don’t seek His wisdom but “go it alone” we will make dreadful mistakes like our Governments have been making by selling our land, our dairies, our coal mines, our gas, our ports, our electricity generating, etc., etc.to foreigners. When I was a young man I had never heard of Security Alarms, Surveillance cameras, police carrying pistols, people locking their houses, children not being safe walking home late at night on their own, or terrorism. This has all changed in five decades and it must be stopped. (2 Chronicles Chapter 7 Verse 14).

To reverse this decline, we must repent for having insulted God by ignoring Him. We can’t force our Governments to change but it will make a difference if we, as individuals, ask His forgiveness in Jesus name, pray, read the New Testament and relevant parts of the Old Testaments, observe His directions and attend a Christian Church for support and encouragement. This is urgent and God will bless us if we do it.          Kind regards, Tom.