Guarded

"That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know Whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day"- 2 Timothy 1:12 (NIV).

Did you see that Steven Hawking died? He was 76. That's a pretty long life for someone who, at age 21 or 22, was diagnosed with ALS, and told he would only live a couple more years. He lived over 50 more years. He was an incredibly intelligent man, but an atheist. He knows now; and so will every person who leaves this life. Every person will face Jesus one day. I wonder what Steven Hawking's first words were when he saw the Lord? I heard a preacher say that the gates of hell were bursting with highly educated people. Many a college freshman have left the church after having their faith challenged by college professors. I remember my philosophy professor shaking a chair at me because I would not admit there was no substantial evidence of God. The Bible was excluded (written by man); creation was excluded (evolution, a science, proved otherwise). Yet I still refused to say there was no evidence. He threw all sorts of questions at the "monotheists," as he called the few of us who persevered. Why didn't God talk to us if He's all loving? Why is there so much violence if He's so good? Why does He allow the innocent to suffer? For a young person, that's a full-scale attack on their faith and many aren't prepared spiritually to defend their belief. We need to pray for America's "Ivory Towers," and for our Christian youth who walk through their doors, that God will guard what is in their hearts.