The best thing about a life lived full of the knowledge of God's presence and power is that there need not be at any point a sense of despair. A grasp of the forever of eternity with God should cure us of a sense of wasted life, except in cases where we are intentionally wasting.
I think as a Christian I am able to live a life that in good times is full to bursting with today, and in bad times is full to bursting with tomorrow. Who am I to say that I will not heal when I am sick? Who am I to say I will not reap the harvest from an honest sowing? Who am I to say fortresses will not come tumbling down through the power of the Word?
I think it's silly that we spend so many youthful years trying to throw ourselves at joy, thinking that there's only so much of it to be had and if we misread the schedule that train will leave the station without us. You would not stand side by side with your spouse at your wedding, age 35, and mourn that you did not marry someone at age 20 would you? I should think you would rather be full to bursting with the overflowing joy of that day!
Why do we have a sense that there are these things which we MUST have experienced, these events and joys that we must achieve or we will have missed out?
We're going to be in heaven. For eternity. We have the best, longest, most perfect summer vacation ahead of us. In that sense there's almost a "So what?" that comes in when the joys of this life are cut short. So you might not reach a 75th anniversary. Did you enjoy your 40 years? Did you enjoy your 10 years?
Is there any reason why a 30, 20, or 10 year old who lived life in service of God and had joy has experienced LESS than the person who reaches 100? Not at all, for even if that person had an amazing 100 years they both have eternity beyond it.
Let us measure and drink deep of the overflowing goodness of each day and never lose our taste for the feast of tomorrow, knowing that the one thing a Christian does not run out of is time for blessings.
Sacrifice your good things when another's good needs precedence. Take pain so that others do not. Run yourself ragged so that others don't have to. When God blesses you with someone who will run themselves ragged beside you and share the burdens, then enjoy the added blessings and run even farther. We will live forever, and it's already started. How far and how fast can we get before we head further in and further up?
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Sunday, October 6, 2013
THAT'S it. Everyone out of the pool!
Billy! Johnny! Get over here, right now!
I want you to stop this bickering right now.
I don't want to hear about how Johnny Republican wouldn't let you play doctor with the whole country using all of his stuff, Billy. And quit whining about how Billy Democrat stole all your lunch money, Johnny. Pointing fingers and crying over whose fault it is doesn't make the problem go away.
Billy! Stop breaking all the things in the backyard. It doesn't solve the problem if you throw a temper tantrum, and all you're doing is hurting people who don't need to be hurt.
I want you to stop this bickering right now.
I don't want to hear about how Johnny Republican wouldn't let you play doctor with the whole country using all of his stuff, Billy. And quit whining about how Billy Democrat stole all your lunch money, Johnny. Pointing fingers and crying over whose fault it is doesn't make the problem go away.
Billy! Stop breaking all the things in the backyard. It doesn't solve the problem if you throw a temper tantrum, and all you're doing is hurting people who don't need to be hurt.
You had better play nice. Don't make me come out there and separate you two. I will send you to your rooms.
You just wait until your Father comes home...
(Excerpts of a conversation I'd like to have with Congress)
You just wait until your Father comes home...
(Excerpts of a conversation I'd like to have with Congress)
Introducing the mediator
Our Bible Study group discussed Genesis 18 this past week, and the presenter introduced an interesting concept: That of Abraham in the role of mediator.
God comes down to earth and is passing by Abraham's tent, and the message is given again that Sarah will have a child. Now, Abraham had already been told this in the previous chapter, so it follows that God didn't come down just for this reason. And indeed, they then carry on towards Sodom and Gomorrah, and God tells Abraham of His intent to determine the truth of the sinfulness of those cities so that He may wipe them out.
Now we've seen this happen already a few times previous to now. God comes down "in the cool of the day" after Adam and Eve sin; God knows what they did, but He's come down to confront them and bring judgment. When Cain kills Abel, God again comes and speaks to Cain, saying that Abel's blood is crying out from the ground. God also comes down to see the Tower of Babel and to render judgment. However, this time things are different.
God is coming to judge Sodom and Gomorrah, but He stops at Abraham's tent. Why? Because He is establishing the role of the mediator, which Abraham is the first to carry out. He's here to bring judgment, but also so that Abraham will intercede and understand his duty, a duty that will be passed down through generations to Israel and beyond.
Another interesting point is that the message of the birth is stated *again* here. Abraham already knew about this promise, so on one hand this is God saying it to Sarah as well. But additionally I think this is symbolic of the eventual promise of the covenant fulfillment in the coming of Christ.
Essentially, God is coming in judgment against a people, but establishing that there is mediation and that the righteous will have mercy. Then God is giving a message, as He does all throughout Israel's history, of judgment for sin but a promise of mercy through the seed of the woman in the future.
(Hopefully this makes sense, it's taken from notes. I just find it intriguing that this is sort of the next step in the covenant promise God made to Abraham, which establishes God's people as mediators and ministers to the nations, and looks to the hope of Christ)
God comes down to earth and is passing by Abraham's tent, and the message is given again that Sarah will have a child. Now, Abraham had already been told this in the previous chapter, so it follows that God didn't come down just for this reason. And indeed, they then carry on towards Sodom and Gomorrah, and God tells Abraham of His intent to determine the truth of the sinfulness of those cities so that He may wipe them out.
Now we've seen this happen already a few times previous to now. God comes down "in the cool of the day" after Adam and Eve sin; God knows what they did, but He's come down to confront them and bring judgment. When Cain kills Abel, God again comes and speaks to Cain, saying that Abel's blood is crying out from the ground. God also comes down to see the Tower of Babel and to render judgment. However, this time things are different.
God is coming to judge Sodom and Gomorrah, but He stops at Abraham's tent. Why? Because He is establishing the role of the mediator, which Abraham is the first to carry out. He's here to bring judgment, but also so that Abraham will intercede and understand his duty, a duty that will be passed down through generations to Israel and beyond.
Another interesting point is that the message of the birth is stated *again* here. Abraham already knew about this promise, so on one hand this is God saying it to Sarah as well. But additionally I think this is symbolic of the eventual promise of the covenant fulfillment in the coming of Christ.
Essentially, God is coming in judgment against a people, but establishing that there is mediation and that the righteous will have mercy. Then God is giving a message, as He does all throughout Israel's history, of judgment for sin but a promise of mercy through the seed of the woman in the future.
(Hopefully this makes sense, it's taken from notes. I just find it intriguing that this is sort of the next step in the covenant promise God made to Abraham, which establishes God's people as mediators and ministers to the nations, and looks to the hope of Christ)
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