Just like six years ago following the tsunami in South Asia, the world watches the tragic events in Japan following the massive earthquake and resulting tsunami there.

This natural disaster has people asking questions like "Where was God?" and "How could God have allowed this?" In the aftermath of the catastrophe a Japanese politician said that God had punished the Japanese for their wrong attitude.

But the dead and injured in Japan or in South Asia six years ago did not "earn" their punishment any more than we or other people who were spared from death and injury. Almost 2000 years ago Pontius Pilate slaughtered a group of Galileans as they were conducting a ritualistic sacrifice. The Bible says that Pilate mingled the blood of the Galileans with the blood of the animals they were sacrificing. Jesus’ disciples apparently wondered about this, and some may have speculated about the reason for the Galileans’ death. "Those sinners, those godless Galileans – they got what they deserved!" is what some people might have thought.

But Jesus had a different viewpoint: "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Lukas 13:2-3).

Jesus continued by mentioning another tragic event: "Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:4-5).

Jesus’ answer wasn’t "They deserved it!", but instead "Why do you think that they deserved it more than you?" Jesus exhorted his listeners to examine their own lives. His message is timeless: death awaits us all. If we want to be spared the penalty of eternal death, we have to repent of our sins.

The fate of the victims in Japan – and that of those poor Galileans 2000 years ago – is an exhortation for us not to neglect our relationship to God. Every new day of life that God gives us is an opportunity to draw closer to Him.

With these thoughts I wish us all a rewarding Sabbath!