Hard To Understand

1There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”  Luke 13:1-5 
Sometimes I come across a passage of scripture I find hard to understand.  So it is with these few verses above. I read them and they stood out to me. Some citizens that were present at that very time told Jesus a story about injustice it seems. Jesus tells them another unfortunate story that perhaps they heard in the news of the day.  All of us will perish in some way. It seems Jesus is telling them you too can find an untimely death. These 18 people were killed when a tragedy fell upon them.  It seems things happen in life and we often don't understand. One thing we can all understand is the need to be forgiven. Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. It is a tragedy in life that we are all sinners and will come upon death in some way. A friend of mine was in the paper in the last few days, he died at age 47. How young was that? He was a minister, he had pastored a church less than five miles from where I now live for 10 years. He was a good man, but he had health problems and God saw fit to take him. I believe he was prepared to meet his maker at even a young age. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. That is just it, we will all meet our creator someday. It is just a matter of when. We don't know when. Only God knows the number of our days. I don't, not even when it comes to my own days. I known men younger than Torrance, I had a nephew by marriage one time that died at age 16. It was an untimely death. But even at age 16 he had an impact on those that knew him. I don't even remember his name today. His funeral was attended by over 400 people. Pretty impressive if you ask me. Many had been impacted by this 16-year-old and the way he lived. Unless you repent, you will likewise perish. We can have our eternity secure. Jesus is telling the people communicating with him in this passage that they need to repent. We are all going to face eternity sometime, every last one of us. Have we repented of our sins?  We will stand before a just God someday. We can be ready. It is something each of us can do rich or poor, educated or not. It doesn't cost anything, it is not an impossible task. Anyone can do it. Jesus made the playing field level. Repent of your sins as John 3:16 tells us and believe in Jesus. All of us will perish someday. We will come to the day when the book of life will be searched for our name, and it can be found by trusting in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. It is so simple even a caveman can do it, as the famous Geico commercial says. I don't know what is happening in our world right now, it is all upsidedown. But I can be secure in Jesus. So many things don't make any sense, but I can be secure in Jesus. I have repented, my name is in the book of life, I can feel secure in Jesus Christ.  God bless, LVZ.