Road to Fifty Reflections: Day 36

The Knowing Yet Not Doing

I am coming to terms with this truth: We all KNOW about death, time’s limits, God, Heaven, purgatory, the devil and hell. We know the dangers of cigarette smoking, the harm of dumping garbage anywhere, the 'excess' of eating too much and the vanity of eating too little for appearances. We know what chemicals, plastics and selfish habits are doing to our lungs, our hearts and our planet. We know where the path of lust and greed leads...

And now, in this digital age, we also know the harm of too much social media (our gauge meter)... the comparison, distraction, pride and envy it feeds into our souls. We know how it robs us of real connection, quiet reflection and time with God.

We know so much and yet we live as though we don’t. We walk through life aware of the truth but unwilling to change. We cling to comfort, procrastination and false security, thinking there’s always tomorrow.

Going back to the podcast I once listened to... The guest shared his near-death experience... how he was pulled into hell. He said, “I didn’t do anything bad to others.” But the realization came, he hadn’t done good either. That pierced me deeply. Sin is not only the evil we commit, but the good we leave undone.

Remember this idiom, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions?"

How often do we say, I’ll forgive someday… I’ll help when I can… I’ll pray later… Yet we never do. Intentions without action become EXCUSES that harden the heart.

For our pride, our silence, for the moments we withheld love or truth... we ask for Your forgiveness, Lord. For the times we knew what was right but chose the easier way, have mercy on us.