Up, Up and Away - The Price of Oil Hits New High!

It was just last week that the price of oil briefly topped $80 a barrel before slipping back below the $80 mark. I just noticed that today the price of oil futures are once again selling for over $80 a barrel. Now I am not an economist. I never took a college class in economics. Never read a book on economics. I don't claim to understand how our economy works. So when I read that the reason for the rise in the price of oil is on "expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut the benchmark federal funds rate, a move the market expects will support the economy and ensure its thirst for oil and gasoline," I am somewhat perplexed. But then I remember two summers ago when Katrina was forecast to head into the Gulf of Mexico (where off shore oil rigs abound and where oil refineries dot the coast) the price of oil rose on the expectation that some of these oil rigs and refineries could be destroyed or at least put out of action for some time. And then there was the time that it was feared that the United States might use military force to "encourage" Iran to back off its nuclear program. Once again, based on this expectation (and the fact that Iran is a major exporter of world oil), oil prices rose! (I always wonder why it does not seem like oil prices drop when these expectations fail to be realized!??!).

Well, I don't think I will ever fully understand the whole futures market thing (whether oil or natural gas or grain or whatever the commodity). But I do find it fascinating how expectations of the future impact the price of doing business in the present!

As followers of Christ, we have a certain expectation of the future that SHOULD be impacting how we live out our lives right here and right now. The apostle John understood this when he wrote, "And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming" (1 John 2:28). Jesus IS coming back! And he is coming back for us (see John 14:1-3). If this is so (and it is an expectation we SHOULD hold based on the clear teaching of the Bible) - then we should live NOW in the "way of Jesus" so that THEN (when he comes back for us) we will avoid being embarrassed and ashamed. How about YOU? Are you living today, right now with the ever present expectation that one day (maybe even today!) Jesus is coming back for YOU?

Thanks for listening,

pj