Greetings Flag Branch members and friends and thanks for taking the time to join me, Pastor Jordan, for some Fine Points from yesterday’s service and message “Master Of My Fate”.
“Invictus” is a poem that was written by William Ernest Henley in 1875. The word means unconquerable or invincible and is applied in the poem concerning the state of the writer’s soul. I first learned of and memorized this poem as something required for me to do as part of my initiation into a fraternity in college.
As people breathe a sigh of relieve at the passing of the year 2020, I was led to remind everyone that this year was only an attempt for God to get our attention or like a “tap on our shoulder”. Because there has been much worst plagues in the past and much worst going forth. The church and the world is off course and God is calling us back.
The scriptural text tells Ezekiel to inform Israel of God’s desire to see them live and not die. He offers them total and complete forgiveness if they will turn away from their sins and come to Him. On the other hand, God warns anyone who turns away from their obedience and begins to follow after unrighteousness, will forfeit all their obedience and be judged on their sin.
As Israel laments their sinful condition and dire state, God swares by His life that their fate is in their own hands. God gives each person the ability to choose life or death. Nobody makes can make the choice for us. By giving us this power, we become the “masters of our fate” and the “captains of our soul” in a way I didn’t understand when I first learned this poem.
Many people in the church, not to mention those in the world, are using this pandemic as a cloak and excuse to abandon faith in God and venture into sinful behavior and actions. Many in the church are making little or no effort to worship, praise and follow God by using the pandemic as an excuse not to be engaged in the work of the church or live Christian lives.
But as disruptive as the pandemic has been, it is a small thing compared to what has been and what is to come. God is giving us an opportunity to come to our senses and return to Him in spirit and in truth while we still can and before something much worst comes upon us.
The choice we make to ours and ours alone. We won’t be able to blame or contribute our fate on or to anyone else. God will not send us to hell or take us to heaven. We determine our fate because God has made it so.
Forty years after I was required to learn that poem, its words ring truer now than ever before because I realize more than ever that we are “the masters of our fate and the captains of our souls”.
Be sure to download our mobile app on your phones and mobile devices. Don’t forget to read and listen to my Sunday School preview that comes out on Thursday. Get a jump on Sunday School by reading the SS Daily Bible Readings at our website or by clicking the link. As always, remember to fear God and keep His commandments.
Pastor Jordan
