“Suspected tornadoes ripped through North Texas on Wednesday night, killing at least six people and injuring more than 100 others.” This is the beginning of a CNN news story. Obviously I am not a meteorologist because I am puzzled by the word “suspected.” Is there some dispute over the definition of “tornado”? Six people are dead! Towns are destroyed and we are using the word “suspected.” This is akin to someone in heaven looking at Earth and saying, “People are dying. Wars are happening. Genocides are occurring. Prisons are full of criminals. I suspect there is “sin” on planet Earth.
Let’s try the other side of the coin. I see a home where the children are well cared for, there is respect for other’s feelings and people are nurturing each other. I suspect there is love in that home.
In Matthew 7 Jesus said, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” It was very difficult for my father to tell me he loved me. I think it was a generational thing. Men just didn’t do that in the 40’s. But I knew he did love me. He worked two jobs to see to it that we were well cared for. On Sunday afternoons he took me somewhere special. We would go for walks in the mountains with our dog or if the weather was bad he took me to the movies. Even after I was married when I would visit he would take me into a back room in the house and give me forty dollars. Today it seems so little but it was big to me.
We do not have to ever write or read the following sentence. “Suspected love from heaven. John 3:16.” By its fruit you will know it.
Written by Roger Bothwell on May 16, 2013
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org