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Those closest to me know that I work full-time at a land surveying company.
It basically deals
with extents or property (land) and how much a person
owns. I've been there for a year April 30. A few weeks
ago, I ran the
instrument (surveying terminology...instrument is used to measure angles and
distances, and a data
collector with it to...well, collect data) on my
largest boundary to date, roughly 100 acres. On our second day
there, soon
to be finishing up the initial findings on property corners, there was an
elderly couple that claimed
to own a 10-11 foot strip of land on the
property we were surveying. We returned to the property a few days
later...they
claimed they owned 50 ft., then later changed to 32 ft. (go
figure!). The visit after we concluded the initial traverse,
we looked
around the west side of the property (that's the left side, looking from the
road) to examine any evidence
on the property that might back that couple's
claim. Now, I must note that the elderly couple did not have a deed
claiming ANY width of land belonging to them. Well, that second visit, the
one I eluded to earlier, resulted
in rain, so after my coworker and my
employer's father looked at the back of the property for any substantial
evidence,
we loaded our equipment in the truck (we don't like to work in the
rain, obviously!) and returned to the office.
After examining the
evidence, the conclusion was that there was not enough substantial evidence
to back the claim
of the elderly couple, so we set POL's (that means, in our
language, Points On Line...orange stakes set to show how the
property line
goes) and the property line was established.
A friend of mine and I were discussing salvation tonight
(before we lose one
precious hour's worth of sleep!), and how upsetting it is for both of us to
see someone base the
life-changing experience that salvation is upon
something as subjective as feelings. For example, The Church of
Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons, in case you do not know), have
continually harped feelings as a basis,
if not THE basis, for truth. All
too often, we hear "I thought I was saved...", questioning whether or not
God's
life-changing experience of salvation ever happened or not. Whether
or not in the profession of land surveying,
law, etc., to determine truth to
verify a claim, the evidence MUST be examined. I've never EVER heard a
decision
from a trial ever reached without examining the evidence FIRST.
Hopefully, with the story I've written about one
of my experiences at work,
that you'll examine the evidence about your salvation. So, if we are to do
that,
then where does the believer look to find evidence of what we believe
to be salvation from God? As the friend I
eluded to earlier so perfectly
put in in Sunday School one time, "Scripture, Scripture, Scripture!" I
believe
1 John 5:13 sums it up for me. I quote from the NASB "These things
I have written to you who believe in the name
of the Son of God, so that you
may know that you have eternal life." So, I urge you, friends, examine the
evidence
found in Scripture about YOUR salvation CAREFULLY. After examining
the evidence, what's YOUR verdict?
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