no air

humans and animals exposed to vacuum will lose consciousness after a few seconds and die of hypoxia (shortage of oxygen) within minutes...
- from wikipedia

last month, i went to the wake of a friend’s father. when i asked his widow how he died, she said he died of asthma - his air passage was blocked.. and by the time help arrived, it was too late. he was dead by the time they got him to the hospital.

a few minutes with no air and a person dies.

wow. that sure is a scary thought. i remember trying to imagine what it would feel like, not to be able to take in air. to be in a room filled with oxygen.. but to not be able to breathe it in. i certainly would not want that happening to me.

but who *really* worries about not being able to breathe? only those who have experienced it, i guess. because for the most part, we worry about a lot of other things..

.. the soaring price of fuel.. the rice shortage.. the increase in tuition fees.. the devaluation of the peso.. the rising crime rate..

yes, we are concerned with a lot of things. and these *are* important. but oftentimes, we forget to be concerned about the *essential* things - those that we need to keep us *alive*

like air.

like god.

one moment without god and *everything* ceases to exist.

like most *essential* things, we tend to take the lord for granted. we simply assume that we will continue taking in his blessings and provisions, no matter what our spiritual condition may be.

but like my friend’s father, who could not breathe in the oxygen in his well-aired room, if we are not careful, we might find ourselves in a situation where we can no longer take in god’s blessings of love, mercy and forgiveness. if we continue to neglect our quiet time.. if we refuse to listen to his admonitions.. if we keep on making him our last priority, time may come when our hearts become so hardened that we can no longer hear him nor feel him.

brothers and sisters, we need to keep our spiritual lives healthy. keeping ourselves in tune with god is *not* optional. it is a must, if we want to keep walking the christian walk.

all of life’s problems and cares should never distract us from what is most important: our god. because it is far safer to be in jesus’ boat in the midst of a storm.. than to be sailing on our own, though the sea may be calm.

god bless, everybody.. and stay safe! :)