Pain

Having a daughter with paralysis, I understand the blessing of pain. Without the ability to feel pain, both physical and emotional, we would run headlong into destructive situations. The pain of guilt is a classic example. We usually feel that something is wrong, because something is wrong. We often feel bad, because we have been. When our hearts feel those uncomfortable pangs, as with our feet or knees, it is important to stop and check things out. In our fallen world pain serves as a warning sign, and more often as a stop sign. The good news is, as with our coming resurrection, there is a solution for our pain. God is willing to grant repentance, forgiveness and restoration.  And that right now. I know we don’t like pain, but until our lives are glorified, we need the warning signal that pain brings. Perhaps we should thank God, that for the time being we are afforded the blessing of pain.

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The End

Part of the reason God gave us divine revelation about the next life is to motivate us in this one. Some have said Christians can be “so heavenly minded, they are no earthly good.” But as C.S. Lewis rightly pointed out, Christians are no earthly good until they are heavenly minded. Until we digest what God says about the end of this world and the beginning of the next, we will never truly embrace Christ’s values or live a Christ-like life. The New Testament repeatedly drives this point home, frequently exhorting us to “set our hearts on things above” (Col.3:1-2). Jesus calls us to punctuate our prayers with an ardent request for God’s “kingdom to come” (Mt.6:10). Because our decisions, our discussion and our disposition need that eternal perspective, may God empower us today to “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2Cor.4:18).

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Fight

If you knew that you had to engage in a street fight with someone today, you’d prepare. Not wanting to fight wouldn’t help if the fight were inevitable. Ignoring the fight would only ensure your loss. The Bible says that you are in a daily battle for the control of your words. Scripture warns that your “tongue is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell” (Jms.3:6). James then goes on to say that it needs to be tamed, arrested and controlled. Each of us will battle today with that unruly, disruptive and powerful force. We must win this battle. We must prepare every day. We must start each day with a call for God’s help. We must seek the power of God’s Spirit to endow us with self-control (Gal.5:22-23). We must be conscious of this daily battle before it begins. May God give us the vigilance, the wisdom and the strength to mitigate the damage and marshal this powerful foe into submission. May we, with God’s help, successfully “offer the parts of our bodies to God as instruments of righteousness” (Ro.6:13) no matter how difficult the fight might be.

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All In

Life really does necessitate that we decide who or what we are going to serve. The words of Joshua are perpetually relevant as he turned to the people and said, “choose for yourselves this day who you will serve… but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Josh.24:15). Without a resolute decision in this regard we will be driven and tossed by every whim, trend or pressure that comes our way. Our heart will be plagued with an emotional schizophrenia until we settle this question regarding our purpose and direction. We must come face to face with the timeless words of Elijah who asks, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him, but if Baal is God, follow him” (1Kgs.18:21). We cannot sanely drift through life without a decision. It behooves us to choose our “master”; Jesus said, two will not work. Lukewarm, he warned, is not a reasonable option. James warns that a “double-minded man” is “unstable in all he does” (Jms.1:8). So chose. Will the Triune God be your Master or something else?

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