I am very glad I will not have to meet God with blood on my hands. Last month the New York Times carried a story from Erez, in the Gaza Strip. It tells the tragic story of a Palestinian mother who blew herself up at an Israeli inspection site, killing four security personnel and wounding seven others. She left behind two infant children. The article did not say how many children her victims leave. In a videotape made before her death she said, "It was always my wish to turn my body into deadly shrapnel against the Zionists and to knock on the doors of heaven with the skulls of Zionists."

Using women as homicide bombers is a major departure for Palestinian terrorist organizations. The woman, Reem al-Reyashi, aged 22, feigned an injury to gain access inside the checkpoint where she lured a guard to inspect her before detonating the bomb. She said she was seeking medical treatment inside Israel.

Her husband knew nothing of the planned attack. "God gave me the ability to be a mother of two children who I love so," she said. "But my wish to meet God in paradise is greater, so I decided to be a martyr for the sake of my children."

Those are scary thoughts, which speak of the anger, frustration and failed hope of a generation of Arabs who are manipulated into feeling this is the only action that can make a difference. To blow up yourself and others is seen as the road to salvation. But such actions actually lead from bad to worse on the road to perdition, intensifying a continuing crisis leading on to a larger disaster.

By contrast, God has given His people understanding of a far nobler and divine purpose for life. We are to live a godly life today in preparation for eternity in the Kingdom, or family, of God. We are to treat people with love and respect. We learn this at our level as part of our training for the role God is preparing for us (John 14:2). We must live with the vision that we are preparing for a far larger role than the one we now have.

Sometimes we think that life may have passed us by and we have not really accomplished much. We compare ourselves to men and women of great accomplishment by today's standards. But consider those standards for a moment. Politicians struggle for high office and then work to stay in power. Others climb the ladder of success, often sacrificing principles and values. Recently a former top corporate executive confessed to fraud and bargained with prosecutors for a plea arrangement. His admission of fraud and his testimony will be used to indict the top two former executives in his corporation.

Christ commented on this type of "success" when He said you could gain the world but lose your soul. In the end, if we don't know why God places us on this earth, then we don't have true success.

Corporate fraud and terrorist bombers are two symptoms of a world adrift from the foundational cornerstone of Jesus Christ. We wait for Him to restore the paths of justice that will solve the cause of such extreme actions. We are called to live today by the laws of the coming Kingdom of God. When we live our lives and treat each other by those eternal principles, we will meet Christ without any guilt or shame. We will meet our Maker without any blood on our hands. WNP