Just a Dot...

By Scott Lee Rose

So Make Your Life CountImagine a never-ending line in separate directions representing eternity past and eternity future. God has always existed, and starting with conception, time marches on for you, and you never cease to be. Psalm 39:5 says, "You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath." No matter how long you live, you are just a dot and very small in relation to eternity. The Creator of the Universe desires a personal relationship with you. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life." Your love and fear of the Lord should inspire you to seek Truth, find it, and lead others to do the same. Just a Dot will help lead you to be a Truth Seeker and make your life count for Jesus Christ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098055592

Book preview

cover.jpg

Just a Dot...

Scott Lee Rose

Copyright © 2020 by Scott Lee Rose

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Truth

Truth Seeker—The Call

Truth Seeker—The Prep

Tell Others

Teach Others

Train Others

Touch Others

Aren’t You Glad?

Heroes

Coffee Shop Christianity

Noodle on It

To my wife, Jill, thank you for over twenty years of being a Truth Seeker and serving along with me at each stop the Lord has led us to so far.

To my friend and proofreader Kim Liptak, special thanks for her time and expertise that added so much value to this project.

Pictured below are fellow Truth Seekers, without whom this book would not have been possible.

First Baptist Church of Bullard, Texas

Southcrest Baptist Church-Lubbock, Texas

Introduction

Take a piece of chalk and walk out in front of where you live. Draw a line on the pavement as far as you can; and when you get to the end, or where you want to stop, draw an arrow. Go back to your starting point and draw a line in the opposite direction as far as you can, and when you get to the end or a good stopping point, draw another arrow. Return to your starting point and color in a white dot, about the size of a coffee cup opening, two to three inches wide. Then step back, look, and consider your life.

That chalk line on both sides of the dot going in opposite directions represents eternity past and eternity future. God exists and always has, and starting with conception, you will live on earth or in eternity in either heaven or hell. That dot you drew represents your life on the timeline of eternity. The farther back you step, the smaller the dot gets. In fact, the dot can appear so small that you may not be able to see it at all.

Your life is just a dot on the timeline of eternity. The psalmist calls life a breath: My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath (Psalm 39:5 NLT). We live in a world that looks at that chalk line from a very different perspective, not from an eternal, but from a finite viewpoint. It is as if they are looking at the dot right in front of their face. The closer the dot, the more imposing it appears, and there is not much else to relate to but the dot. It creates a false dichotomy that leads you to think your life is all that matters, the here and now, and there is no tomorrow. Truth is you do matter, but you are not all that matters, so live as if eternity is at stake, with an eternal purpose rather than a perishable existence.

You are just a dot on the timeline of eternity, so if you truly love Jesus, be mission-minded: seek truth, find it, and work to impact lives for the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Make your life count and be a Truth Seeker.

One of my favorite TV shows was the ’70s classic Mission Impossible. It involved an elite covert operations unit that took on highly sensitive missions. Most episodes began with Agent Jim Phelps getting an assignment from a familiar voice on a tape recorder along with an envelope of photos and information that explained the mission. The tape usually began like this: Good morning, Mr. Phelps. Then it explained the situation and said, Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it. At the end of the instructions, Phelps was notified, This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim. The instructions would disintegrate as smoke arose from the slowly smoldering tape. Mr. Phelps always accepted the mission.

To be a Truth Seeker, you must decide to accept the mission. This mission is not impossible, but rather it is "mission possible." Truth Seekers look for truth and find it. They learn all they can and lead others to follow Jesus Christ.

It was the summer of 1996. My wife, Jill, and I occasionally attended a Bible study group. About that same time, I asked to be placed on the prayer list because I needed surgery, and several class members promised to pray for me. Thankfully, the procedure went well, and I spent a few days in the hospital recuperating. I awoke from a brief nap and noticed several members of our class standing before me. Besides family members, I did not expect anyone to visit me—much less friends from the class. I was pleasantly surprised and blessed that those Christian brothers and sisters took time out of their day to visit me, pray over me, and even bring me a small gift. Little did I know I had just experienced Truth Seekers in action.

Several weeks later on a Sunday morning, Rudy Fernandez, our teacher, was in Revelation 3:15, where Jesus is speaking to the church at Laodicea. He says, I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. That translated to me like this: Scott, either you are on My team or off My team. You are either with Me or against Me. I know that is not proper theology, because I had been a believer since I was nine years old, but I was wandering around in sin, and the Holy Spirit wanted my attention. Rudy gave us another rendering of the word spit as being vomit. It was as if the Holy Spirit was saying, Your life makes me sick, so get off the sidelines, get in the game, and join Me in My work. That day I was being called to seek truth and be a Truth Seeker.

At the end of the day, you are just a dot on the timeline of eternity, but a dearly loved dot nonetheless. Jesus Christ died for you and me so we can make our lives count. The psalmist declares, "Seventy years are given to