All in?

Howdy everyone.  It’s been a while, this may be a bit of a rambler, and by that, I don’t mean the car.

Anyway, here goes.  When Cindy and I got married, we both went ‘All In’.

We didn’t keep separate bank accounts, there wasn’t any of “This is mine.” and “That’s yours.”  Starting on day one, it was ‘Ours’.  We both bought into the whole package.  We put both feet into the ring and we didn’t keep one foot out and safe at home base.  We both knew there would be no going home to Mom for either one of us.

We went ‘All In’ and the only thing from that point on that really was hers and mine were our toothbrushes and clothes.  Also, you see, when Cindy and I got married, she already had Bobby, Sheila and Angie.

And I knew ‘All In’ included them too.

That’s it, we were ‘All In’ and it’s been that way ever since.  Cindy and I never had any other kids, we just raised Bobby, Sheila and Angie, and then later on we adopted a nephew, Anthony and raised him.

So being ‘All In’ is such a norm to us or rather me, that when my son Bobby and his wife Tammy were over at the house this morning, Tammy asked what was wrong with my hands.  (I have Eczema.  I get shots to control it, and they seem to last about sixty days.  The problem is I can only get the shots every ninety days.  Wouldn’t you know…)   Well last week the old Eczema flared up, and I treated it, but now I am left with the aftermath.  My hands are peeling something terrible.  They look gnarly, to use a word that was in use quite a bit a few years ago.  Anyway, I told her what it was and she commented that Jacob’s (My grandson.  He has Eczema too.) doesn’t get that bad.

I immediately thought to myself, “It’s terrible that he inherited that from me.”

Now what does that story have to do with the price of tea in China?  Maybe nothing, then again maybe everything.  Depends on how closely you read the story.  Lately though, I think about God, Jesus Christ, religion and my own personal salvation a lot.  And I’m thinking maybe I’m just not ‘All In.’  Here are some questions that really gnaw at me of late.

Let’s start off right here and say something that I am sure of.

I believe in God.  With all my soul, with all my being.  I believe He is all powerful.  I believe He is intimately familiar with my life, your life in fact the whole universe around us.

Of this I have no doubt.

But can a person believe in God and not believe in the devil?  Can he believe in God and not believe that man is “Born in Sin”?  Can he believe in God and not believe in Jesus Christ?  Can that person believe in God and not believe in Heaven?  And finally, can a person believe in God and not believe in everlasting life?  All of these questions have me wrapped around the axle trying to make sense of it all.

But you know, Cindy has been gone a long time.  She comes back from Florida tomorrow and perhaps when she comes home, with her ‘Unshakeable Faith’ she can help me figure things out and get back on an even keel.  That’s another thing I am pretty sure of; ‘If you are weak in faith; hold tight to one who is strong.’

That’s what we do in Church right?  When we have Church and we fellowship together, if we are ‘All In’: Aren’t we holding tight to one another through our faith in God?