Harold Holt Australia's Prime Minister - Gone! Never to be seen again

Where are you with your workday world? I know I am still 'on the go' and staying busy. It's a good thing as long as whatever it is doesn't just take over your life. When Jesus came into the world, he was certainly a busy young man. His father Joseph was a carpenter, and in those days it was a special job with lots going on, and I guess Jesus, being the eldest son in the family, was always on the go.

Giving Jesus first place in your life, which is amazing, sort of puts everything in order; it's really quite spectacular.

I was reading lately about our former Prime Minister, Harold Holt. he loved getting everything in order and keeping it in that state. He certainly made sure that happened in his job. He felt he was first being PM.  Harold Holt was an agnostic, i.e., a person who believes that God really doesn't exist or basically is unknown. A tad confusing! 

He was a Liberal frontbencher in the parliament, and took over the reins after Robert Menzies retired. Originally he had been in the liberal Party for quite a few years. 

He made things happen quickly and, if you like, efficiently. The Vietnam War was a dominant feature of Holt's reign as Prime Minister here in Australia. The War had begun in 1962, and he, being PM, made it his mission to support the USA in the war in Vietnam.

He introduced National Service for all of us young men at the time, and so many of us were called up to serve in the army and be in Vietnam during this pretty hostile war. Ghastly situation for so many. He justified being there in Vietnam by saying that "Australia was morally obliged to resist communist subversion and aggression and defend the right of every people to choose their own social and economic order." Well, there you have it. Many of us went to war.

There were 4,500 army troops and also 1,500 National Servicemen. So many of the army and National Service people were killed during this time - it was a very nasty war. Holt romped in after this and won the next election so easily. It was called the "Khaki Election", a reference, of course, to the colour of the uniforms of all our personnel including the National servicemen.

So the war went on and on, and Harold Holt's personality was zooming ahead in the polls. Holt loved the ocean, particularly spearfishing, and on 17th December, 1967, he talked his fellow parliamentarian into going snorkelling with him at Cheviot Beach, which is in Point Nepean National Park near Portsea on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.

It is a beautiful spot and was at that time pretty isolated. There is a picture of the beach on the right.  It is a remote beach. Harold spearfished there many times, and he loved that area so much. Alan Stewart, his fellow parliamentarian, went with him snorkelling. Alan Stewart kept close to the shore while Harold Holt ventured out into the deeper water. 

Not sure what happened, but the thought is that he got caught in a rip and, much to Alan's horror, disappeared from sight, never to be seen again. One witness described him being carried out as "like a leaf being taken out so quick and final."

So ended the reign of Harold Holt as Australia's Prime Minister. What a horrible experience. He was never seen again. His body was never discovered. His disappearance sparked one of the biggest operations in Australian history, but no trace of his body was ever found.

Our lives can change so much in an instant. None of us ever know what is in store for us. The unexpected, the unforeseen, the out of the blue, the unanticipated, and certainly the unpredicted!

In the Bible, in Matthew 24:42, it says, "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come," and again in Mark 13:33, "Be on your guard, stay alert, for you do not know when the appointed time is."

What is the appointed time? It simply means none of us know when our time has come when we leave this earth of ours and get to spend eternity elsewhere. Where is eternity for you?

Do you even think about eternity? What is eternity? It is simply a never-ending, continual, and never-changing life. Something we don't even think about. But Jesus, while he was here on earth with us, certainly told us about eternity and warned us that if we didn't hand our lives over to God, then eternity in hell is the alternative.

What does it mean to "hand our life over to God?" It simply means just that! Believe in God, the Creator of the universe. That he has eternal life and that he really wants you to accept him and ask him into your life.

By asking God into your life, he then takes control of your life. He becomes the number one person in everything you ever do. Life continues as before, but the only thing is that God is there, changing you and guiding you. 

Asking God to control your life gives you assurance of eternal life with him. Knowing that when we die, we will go and be with him for eternity. Prayer is an amazing experience, and one where we become closer and closer to God. 

God's richest blessings to you and yours this week, and I hope to see you next time.