The New Year is a good time to think of requirements. We all live in a world of some requirements. Our college kids are just going back to school and will learn of their new requirements for a new semester of classes. I am already seeing advertisements regarding tax preparation, a requirement every working American faces. Requirements are really a good thing in that they give definition and discipline to our lives. I was reminded this week of a “requirement” that all men face. It is found in the book of Luke:
Luke 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
It is here, in this text, that a man is counted as foolish if he fails to acknowledge and observe his “requirements”. The teaching of this text is clear. A man’s soul is not his own. The time will come when every man will be required to give an accounting of how he has spent his life and resources. There is a Psalm that speaks well to the basis of this requirement:
Psalm 24:1 The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
We are guests on this planet, and more than guest, obligated citizens of the world. That is certainly something you should consider as you face this New Year!
