Two kinds of people

"So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.” 1 Peter 1: 13 (The Message)

In the 1969 movie, Paint Your Wagon, Lee Marvin plays a drunk named Ben Rumstead. During the closing scene, Rumstead is standing in the rain on a muddy street talking with the owner of a local store. The store owner looks at the passing wagons, loaded with people moving out of town and says, "There are two kinds of people in this world. There are thew who move on and those that stay. Ain't that the truth, Ben Rumstead?"

Marvin's character says, "No, that ain't the truth. There are two kinds of people in this world. Them that is going someplace and them that is going no place. That's the truth."

I spent some time last night in a Bible Study talking about the will of God. I said that's hard to determine sometimes, but ultimately the will of God is found in scripture. 

I stand on that. Look above. The will of God is right there for all of us. Roll up your sleeves. Put your mind in gar. Be totally read to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives.

Be holy.

Be obedient.

Be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life.

That's the will of God for the people of God.

Whenever the storm comes, and it most certainly will, pick up the holy scriptures and read the will of God for you.

It makes the cold winter go faster when you concentrate on not slipping back into those old grooves of evil. It really does. 

I, the worst sinner of them all, know this to be true.

The question becomes, are you going someplace closer to Jesus or are you not? 

In the song Two Kinds of Jones, we read about Rothschild, Evelyn, Reuben, and Sue -- two young married couples. The storms in their lives come, and then there is one set of Jones. There was one difference in the couples' lives. Jesus. The song continues:

"So what is the point of this story,
What am I trying to say
Well is your life built on the rock of Christ Jesus
Or a sandy foundation you've managed to lay
Well needless to say Evelyn left her husband
N' sued him for every penny he had
But I truly wish that those two would find Jesus
Before things get worse than they already have"

Get it?