What is it about going to the doctor or dentist that makes it such a foreboding experience?  Is it the words, “Okay, lie back on the table and I’ll…”?  Or how about when the dentist asks, “Are you comfortable?” just before he thrusts the auger in your mouth.  Doesn’t the thought of it all cause your blood to run cold?  But let’s not be too hard on them; they do try to make us relax a bit in the Waiting Room.  This is where all of the victims patients gather before their procedures.  TVs, aquariums, magazines, books and life insurance pamphlets are strategically placed to take our minds off of the little procedure that awaits us just around the corner in the last room on the left.  Perhaps it is the Waiting Room that presents the greatest struggle for me.  I sit there thinking: If this has to happen, why do I have to wait for it?  Would it not make more sense to use the time to escape?

  Waiting is never fun, but interestingly, we are commanded to “wait on the Lord” three times in the scriptures.  e.g. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. (Psalm 27:14).  The phrase is also found in Psalm 37:34 and Proverbs 20:22.  The Hebrew word wait used in these verses is similar to our word wait.  It means, to delay action until a particular time, or until something else happens.  But the Bible word seems to suggest a confident expectancy while we wait on Him.  Take for instance the example cited above from Psalm 27.  While we wait on the Lord, we can be of good courage.  Why? because He shall strengthen thine heart.  Anticipation of His promises makes the wait much more bearable.

  God, who could give us instant everything, has ordained rather that we should wait.  He knows that in waiting, our faith will be exercised, and when faith is exercised, it grows stronger.

  You’ll have to excuse me now, my doctor is waiting patiently for me!

  Ours is a day in which people are willing to take chances.  An increasing number of men and women are involved in something called Extreme Sports.  These thrill seekers perform unbelievable, death defying stunts on skis, bicycles, snowmobiles, and such.  They might appear to have little regard for life, but many of them would argue that their stunts are more than nerve and ignorance.  They think of each event as a “calculated risk,” an exercise of faith in their equipment and the collective experience and expertise of their support team.  Faith has been defined as belief or trust in something or someone.  These athletes prove that faith can push them over the top, making it possible to accomplish the impossible.

  Faith is also a Bible word, and God is its object.  The Bible says that God “…is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”   Sounds a little like the terminology used to describe extreme sports, doesn’t it?  But by faith we can accomplish things even more impressive than the most amazing stunt ever performed at a sporting event.

  Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”  It is by faith that a sinful man becomes a child of God.  It is by faith that he finds peace and contentment in the promises of God.  By faith nations rise from ashes, and by faith the widow finds solace at the graveside of her husband of 53 years.   Hebrews 11 records numerous examples of what can be accomplished in the realms of the extreme, with a thimble full of faith.

  While I would not be interested in jumping out of a helicopter onto a mountain peak with a tricycle, I would like to experience the extreme power of God in my life.  How about you?  “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17).”  Let’s get in the Word and find something new and over the top to believe God for!

  Can you name the Ten Commandments?  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.  Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy.  Honor thy father and thy mother , etc.

  Contrary to popular opinion, the Bible clearly states that you will be judged according to God’s standard, not your own.  Have you broken any of God’s commandments?  For example, Have you ever stolen anything, even a piece of candy when you were a child?  Did you ever tell a lie, even a little “white” lie?  Did you ever laugh at a joke that contained the name of God?  Did you ever long for something that belonged to someone else?  Did you ever hate someone?  The Bible says, Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer… (1John 3:15a).

  If you are like me, your only plea could be GUILTY, ––and we are all made of the same stuff.  So, if today were Judgment Day, would God, as a just God, have to send you and me as liars, thieves, blasphemers, etc., to heaven or hell?  Someone might argue, “But I have only broken one of God’s laws.”  My friend, the Bible says, For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2:10).  You see, we are all guilty before God.  There is none righteous, no, not one:” (Romans 3:10).

  But God loves you in spite of your sin.  He has made provision for sinners like you and me, to know Him now and live with Him forever in heaven.  But beware, in spite of anything that you might have heard, there is only ONE way.  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).  Jesus, God’s Son, died, was buried and rose from the dead to purchase your forgiveness.  If your desire is to be saved from your sin rather than live in it, you can receive His forgiveness as a gift by faith.  Like any gift, it is free, –but this Gift is certainly not cheap.

  Profiling, though it has many new names, is still a hot topic today.  Many of our legislators have moved to make it illegal.   I’m sure there are times in which profiling is the harmful result of bigotry, but like many practices that are as old as time and now labeled politically incorrect, categorization can help us to put things in perspective.  For instance, according to 1 Corinthians 2-3, the whole human race can be divided into three categories:

  The Natural Man is described as an individual who cannot understand the things of God.  To suggest to him that life consists of a spiritual element along with the obvious physical, is utter foolishness to him.  He believes that God, if there is a God, does not play a significant role in his day to day existence.  His godless life will result in a godless eternity.

  The Spiritual Man is just the opposite.  In addition to his physical existence, he sees himself as a spiritual being.  He has embraced God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, who came down to earth to reconcile natural man to his supernatural God.  This spiritual man is, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, able to comprehend and affirm those things that the natural man does not see or perceive.  How does the natural man graduate into the realm of the spiritual?  Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).

  But there is a third category mentioned, the Carnal Man.  This man has discovered the life changing truth; his eyes have been opened to the things of God, but he has little regard for their significance.  He is so overwhelmed with the pleasures of earthly treasures, so busy with earthly responsibilities, so enamored with the wisdom and ways of the world, that he has no time for the eternal.  In both realms (physical and spiritual), he is a hypocrite.

  This type of profiling might help you discover the benefits of knowing God personally.  Start by answering this question, In which category are you?