Close Call.

Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. Jonah 3:10

The International Space Station is a research facility in Low Earth Orbit. It is about 190 miles above the earth. It is moving at roughly 17,000 per hour and orbits the earth approximately 16 times a day. It is a joint venture between the United States, Japan, Russia and 10 European countries. It is the biggest facility ever built in space. Construction began in 1998 and expected to continue until 2015. Recently, the space station had a close encounter with a piece of space junk. All space debris travels at about 5 miles a second and so a one-half inch piece of aluminum would pack the same punch as a 400 pound safe traveling at 60 miles per hour. If the debris hit the space station it could cause a catastrophic loss of air pressure. The space debris missed the station by about three miles while the astronauts huddled in a Russian space capsule aboard. As Christians, we witness God’s mercy as he gives us many chances to seek salvation.

Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire. It was in what is now northern Iraq. It was thought to be a thoroughly modern city. People came from far and wide to experience the healing powers of the statue to the goddess Ishtar and there was a library with an extensive collection of scholarly and literary works on magic. Even as God speaks about Nineveh, he describes it as both great and evil. Like Paul who, before his conversion, persecuted Christians, talented people and great institutions can still be evil. As I read about the broad boulevards and wide squares and parks of ancient Nineveh I was reminded of Matthew 7:13 which states the gate to destruction is wide and the path is broad. As Christians, we need to frequently examine ourselves and make sure we are aligned with the word of God and the straightforward and simple good news of salvation. No matter how successful we appear to be, God searches our hearts and knows our thoughts. We must seek him while he mercifully waits for us.

My prayer for you today is that you look for signs around you that you are on the right pathway.

Deacon Larry Woodard