When I was young, I was into everything, and one day we found someone that was willing to show us something that has forever stuck in my mind! A couple of my friends were with me and we were playing Army Man─not too unusual for boys that were military brats, around 11-12 years of age.

Our street ran down a small hill and into a huge field. Just on the other side of the field was Interstate Highway 410, and just beyond that was another field. It was in this field that they had begun dumping a lot of excess material like used asphalt, huge piles of gravel and oddly enough, there were about six-huge mountains of sand. The sand of course was used as a stabilizing material when they would repair or build new highways in our area. This was the site that had the materials for disaster.

We loved running up and down the hills, except on the old used asphalt─mostly because it was really hard, stinky and stuck to our clothes if we fell down. The piles of dirt were better but they had piles of red ant beds in them, and if you have never run into red ants, let me just say, they bite you and it stings like the dickens and the skin blisters. For anywhere from a day to almost a week, these bites would itch something terrible, thusly, we moved on to the mountains of sand; no ants, and no stink sticking to our clothes either.

One day we had been digging all our foxholes and firing BBs from one hill to the opposing enemy of the other hill, when an older man showed up and told us we would have to leave. We stated that we weren’t hurting anything and that we were just playing, what had we done wrong? He then asked us to come down and follow him for a second, he had something to show us, so down we came and we followed him.

Directly on the other side of the mountains of sand, there had once been a pond of sorts, also mostly tall brush and whatever got thrown in the pond by the loaders. What we didn’t know and he did know is that it had turned into something akin to quicksand! There were signs around the area that stated such, much to our surprise. In showing us this, he had been worried for us.

The other thing was, we had been digging and making walls (however short they were), and they were dangerous if they fell on us and buried us. In the space of five minutes we had received quite the harrowing lessons on the “bad effects” sand can and does present at times─under the right conditions. The man was nice about it and stated he didn’t want any of us to be killed or hurt, simply because we didn’t know about the conditions that could arise. He didn’t have to say anything to us, but he felt responsible─thus he warned us.

We left the area thanking him and were off to find something a little safer to play around. There is one thing I do remember when I looked at the sand and the quicksand. It didn’t “look dangerous.” What a deception that was! Yet the results could have been catastrophic!

Our lives are much like that situation with the quicksand. Just the sand alone, everything appears all right, safe to traverse, to work in, and yet the end-result is sometimes catastrophic! And the reason is because we never take the time to really investigate what we are dealing with. We simply run headlong, never looking back, never wondering if we are doing the right thing! Maybe the catastrophic event does not center around on you, but it does eventually hit on someone close to you.

1 John 1.5-10: “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

Proverbs 16:9: “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.”

Ephesians 2.8-10: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

John 15.4: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”

If you are willing to read these verses above, slowly and carefully, with the idea of applying them to your life everyday, you will come away with the idea that this world is full of sand pits and quicksand. It then becomes real to you, that you need someone to rescue you when you’re in trouble or to teach you things that would eventually save you not only time, but your life.

We like to spend time thinking about all the things that make us happy, that give us a sense of safety, the assurance that all is well in our little world. The problem is: Too few are willing to understand that Satan and his ilk absolutely HATE YOU and they will do whatever they are allowed to do, to not only harm or kill you, but to destroy any harmony that you may be experiencing. That is the reason the born-again believer knows from the Bible, to call upon the Lord at every turn─before any action, and that our “steps” are to be “guided” by HIM and NOT that other looser, Satan.

As young boys, we could have told the man to mind his own business, yet in those days, we listened to our elders, for our own good. I am positive that you can look around you today and see, few, if any─that would be willing to address a situation like ours. The deception that Satan wants you and me to believe is that everything is just fine and there are no worries at all.

So go ahead have as much fun as possible, do whatever makes you feel good, don’t worry, no one is going to know, no one is going to find out either! And then Satan sits back and laughs his butt-off when the opposite takes place and you’r e standing there all alone. You fell for his lies, hook-line-and-sinker!

Here’s the real question: “If you KNOW Satan is the father of lies, WHY do you listen to him? Stay away from the mountains of sand and the quicksand. If not, the result will be catastrophic at best, and it’s YOUR own fault!

John 3.16: “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.”

When God created man and woman, Adam and Eve, they were perfect in every way possible, as was God’s original plan. They didn’t know anything that was wrong or disgusting (whatever word you may wish to use). They were given the entire planet by God to care for, and God walked with them every day. This is the exact spot where SIN had not entered into anything here on earth. It was absolutely perfect, all according to Gods perfect will.

In the meantime, Lucifer chose to raise his throne as an angel to that of God’s and higher. Thus HE and his followers disgraced themselves and were thrown out of heaven. Thus became the hated Satan and his followers against God. This individual, Satan and even his followers, DO NOT realize that they are like you and me, created by God! If this does not make sense to you, please, reread that sentence. YOU and I, Satan and his followers…are NOT the CREATOR…We are the “CREATED.” Once you have this clearly settled in your mind and heart, it will be easier to understand the rest of the story.

Using the exact same, thought that Satan had for his throne to be higher and above God’s, he used that against Eve anddeceived her into taking the fruit of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Notice again the name of that tree and its fruit. Now understand that Satan told Eve that if she ate of it, she would like God. Remember why Satan was thrown out of heaven. Here it is again! Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden for their SIN…AGAINST God.

This is the exact same thing that happened earlier to Satan and his ilk…got it? IT WAS A REPLAY! Thus, Satan and his ilk committed the FIRST SIN ever and Adam and Eve committed the second SIN ever, against God─thus their punishment. Having said this and if you understanding it, we see how “original sin” came about. Since then, we have been born with that original sin in us. Before Adam and Eve SINNED against God…there was NO DEATH! Oh my…could it be real? It’s in the Bible!

Understanding this situation is PARAMOUNT for understanding why we are in the situation we are in today. The entire conclusion of that situation…is SIN!

Romans 6.23: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (emphasis added)

What is there NOT to understand here? The Scripture tells us how we are sentenced to death for our SIN…yet we have a choice to accept the gift of Jesus Christ…and have eternal life! Two different avenues and two different endings and guess what? YOU get to choose which one you want! TWO ROADS AND TWO ENDINGS, that’s all there is!

Now we come to the place where we talk about: “Why does God allow the innocent to suffer?”

Men and women live and survive each and every day, until they grow old an die, right? Children have diseases and die, adults have diseases and die…Somewhere along the way, WE HUMANS have scared the bejabbers out of ourselves that DEATH is bad! WRONG! It is simply a change from mortal to immortal, from corruption to incorruption! That’s all it is. Even the non-believers will have an incorruptable body, that’s the reason why the lake of fire will be so bad…for so long a period of time, for eternity!

A child has a terminal disease, they are going to die soon, who is at fault? NOT God! Humans asked for the “knowledge of good and evil” remember, to be like God, remember? WE humans commited that SIN and we humans, whether young or old, will suffer death…because of that SIN. WE humans asked for this, we sought it out, we chose it in our hearts, we chose SIN above righteousness! It is the Original SIN…of wanting to be LIKE GOD…instead of being who we are, the “CREATED”. Now you have your answer in a nutshell…although it is all found in the Bible─Gods Holy Word to YOU and me.

Is there some way to fix this situation? Not really, because of this inate Original SIN that we possess! It is for you and me to understand this situation in its fullness. If we decide not to understand it, you are then left with the QUESTIONS that you are experiencing right now. “Yeah…but God could simply think the disease away and keep us happy,” you might be thinking. Of what good would that be for you and the rest of everyone still running around here on earth, what would we have learned, in what ways would we be different?

Let’s be serious here, the Bible has been around for better than 3000 years and how many use it today? It is fitting to be able to see the answer is FEW! We have NOT stayed the same in our SIN, we have progressed and added to it, from the original SIN. We are better at commiting SIN today than ever before, or do you not understand the reason for Noah’s Ark and the flood, or of Sodom and Gomorrah? All that is necessary to know that answer, is to simply look all around you and ask yourself, “How bad is our SIN today?”

And so now you want to know why death is at the level it is, why does God take the children…(suffer not the little children to come unto me). If you know your Bible, you now have the answers to your questions. The problem is, how does this sit with you now, does it make any sense to you? YOU AND ME…OUR SIN…HAS BROUGHT THIS UPON US!

God is NO respecter of persons. In God’s eyes, I am no more worthy of salvation or eternal damnation …than YOU are. Or haven’t you figured that out yet? To be honest, it is as obvious as the nose on your face! The problem is who are we willing to believe…Jesus Christ…or stupid Satan? It is written in God’s Word, that Satan is the Father of lies.WHY…do we listen to such scum? Is there something that makes us choose his lies over the love of God the Father? Of course there is, we want, what we want, and we want it right now!

Is this hitting home somewhere? For crying out loud, brothers and sisters…WE choose it to be this way and when it happens, we suddenly fall under the judgement of Almighty God. Death arrives as stated in the Bible and we have the audacity to be surprised? We blame God…for what we wanted and asked for in the first place? The consequence for SIN will never change my friends…never….ever! When we finally understand this and change our ways…God will then begin to bless us like we have never known before! Just like that part of the kiddie song, “The Bible tells me so.”

DEATH…as a human…is not bad! It is simply a change to inmortality, corruption to incorruption! We born-again Christians do NOT have to fear this because: “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” IF it were my choice, my children would die and be with the Lord, waiting for my old-butt to get there to heaven and live out eternity together…How loving a concept! Boohoo…Boohoo…they’ve left me behind! That is cause for crying! That is sad!

But we must understand, if they are with God the Father…that is FANTASTIC…it’s WONDERFUL…I want to be in heaven WITH THEM, which if you haven’t figured it out yet, they didn’t go to hell! Obvious right?

Here’s the kicker: Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to heaven and to reunite with your kids. It is your choice…Choose wisely! Time is short…the Rapture of the church ofJesus Christ is REALLY…REALLY…close.

John 3.16: “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.”