It’s a great day to be alive! Even though it appears that this world has gone off its rocker, there is hope for our future, for your future too. We have been told what to expect in these days, we’ve also been told who to focus on and, although the world loves gray, things are pretty much black and white. It’s like when you’re in the pool and you dive under without goggles, everything is distorted, but if you’re above the water, everything is clear. If you stay under the water long enough, your body adapts to the environment, what used to bother you, no longer does, it becomes “normal”. This new normal is what the world likes to call the gray area, it’s acceptable, blurred lines are ok. But Jesus disagrees. In His eyes, there is that which is good and honorable and there is that which is sin, death, and abomination. From the beginning He has seen how man corrupts himself and takes on other gods, creating idols for himself to worship. When you read through the first covenant, the Old Testament, you find that in truth, everything can be sorted into “obedience” or “disobedience”.
Obedience leads to Life.
Disobedience leads to death.
Seems like when we measure the weight of what we choose to do on this scale of “obedience” verses “disobedience”, that it would be such an easy choice to make. But if you can’t see it clearly, if your vision is distorted, if what you’ve allowed to become “normal” for you lies outside of obedience, no matter how hard you try to justify it, it must fall in disobedience, it lies outside of “Life” so then it must lie with “death”. But why can’t you see it? Why is death so attractive, so enjoyable? Because it’s worldly, it’s immediate gratification, it brings pleasure to your body and your mind. So, where’s the hope?
Hope is in Christ Jesus alone. He is the Truth, the Way, the Life. In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus tells of great turmoil in these days, but He says for us to keep our eyes on Him. Don’t be distracted by the world, don’t get taken in by the spectacular or by fear, instead, look to Him, know Him, and there is hope. He is the Hope. I heard a pastor say once that the New Testament is our way of getting to know the voice of Jesus. As we read the Word, we get to know God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We also learn how to tell what is of the devil. In John 10:10 we see that stealing, killing, and destroying comes from satan and we see that Life, the abundant Life, comes from Jesus, our good Shepherd. This one scripture gives us hope because, if we take it to heart, it will cause us to use honest weights in our scale that we measure our choices by. The good Shepherd, Jesus, did much for us and yet many of us refuse to receive it. We’ve been disappointed, frustrated, let down by people who “love” us. Big, gaping holes have been left in our lives where fathers or mothers, husband or wives should be. The emptiness of this big gaping hole can drive us to do worldly things like drugs, alcohol, or sex in ways that grant temporary satisfaction, but leave us eventually seeking more or something even more destructive.
It’s only through the Love of God that we become whole again. The difference between whole and hole is the w, the w is the Word, better known as Jesus. He is the difference in all of it. To put it simply, He purchased for each and every person a Life abundant, the only thing that can fill that big, gaping hole in our lives. True weakness comes from refusing to break the binds of this world that tie you to mediocrity, to desperation, and to fear. True Strength comes through Jesus Christ who was murdered, buried, went to hell and defeated satan and his mob, and was resurrected on the third day. He embarrassed satan and his mob, marching them around on display, I can just see the big “L” for “loser” on their foreheads. So you see, it is a great day because at any time today, we can turn to Jesus and lay every heavy burden of ours on Him and we can pick up every promise in the Word of God as our own. In the book of Revelation, it says that He, Jesus, has made us kings and priests, past tense. We just need to step into it. We just need to step into hope. He’s waiting for you to take the step towards Him so that He can crown you and anoint you.
It’s a great day to be alive.