Good Wednesday morning! Well, we made it to number 1,000 yesterday and as with most milestones, the question is: "now what?" Don't you just feel a letdown after the anticipation and satisfaction of approaching and then reaching some milestone in life? In most any endeavor we have milestones. At work we strive to reach five year or ten year anniversaries, or the next level on the pay scale, or even that promotion from the rank and file to manager. Sometimes we have plans for the next level, almost every new manager or commanding officer in my experience had plans for changes and improvements, but other times we reach a milestone and... nothing! The 'now what do I do?' question bounces around as the next milestone seems so very far away. A feeling of "is the celebration over already?" floats around in our minds as we ponder the journey ahead. What is the problem here?
One problem we have might be the urge to quantify everything. A few years back, I came to the realization in my heart, though it was already in my head, that Dec 31st looked much like Jan 1st which in turn looked very much like Jan 2nd. Perhaps that is why so many people get drunk on Dec 31st. Getting 'plowed', as some put it, makes the morning of Jan 1st look much different, usually in a hungover, feeling really awful, kind of way. That isn't how we celebrate our milestones in Christ, but perhaps we worry too much about quantified milestones anyway.
What bothers us most about Christ's return? We don't know the date. We cannot mark the calendar to count down the days as we do with our earthly milestones. What bothers us most about salvation by grace? We don't have a quota to fill or a goal to reach. We cannot give enough, save enough, work enough, or say enough "hallelujahs" to assure our own salvation. What bothers us most about our home in Heaven? Jesus didn't leave a map with an "X"; we cannot plan a journey with this much fuel, that much food, or this many hours or years required to make the trip.
We start to whine and holler about the quantities and coordinates when Jesus says: "I'll prepare your place in Heaven, believe in Me! The Father alone knows the date of My return, trust in Him! I died for you; you are saved. Trust only in Me!"
Wait there are no quantities, dates, or map coordinates there; how do we trust? That's the whole point! We trust in Christ to take care of those things he promises. Jesus wants our complete faith in Him; not in the details or quantities of what He will provide, but in Him alone! What about those quantities? Jesus tells us not to worry about them. Not so easy to obey in this time-stamped, date-marked, quantified world, but that's the deal. Trust in Jesus completely or not at all. Learning to trust in Jesus completely isn't easy, but we have the Holy Spirit to help us in that!
Praise God for the day!
Bucky
No comments:
Post a Comment