Good Wednesday morning! I've heard it again. That dreadful saying that may be more dangerous than all the opposition of the intellectual man, "I'm not that spiritually inclined." Do you suppose that defense will work on the day we stand before God? No doubt that statement would be followed by one the world also considers safe and sensible. "Well, sir, I wasn't that spiritually inclined in life, but I'm a good person." As we recall through the Spirit, Paul blows these arguments out of the water in Romans. No one is good enough to meet God's standard. John later wrote down a message from Jesus to a lukewarm church in the book of Revelation. Jesus states that He will spew them out of His mouth. The lukewarm church disgusted our Lord so much that He spat their name. I guess they were not that spiritually inclined.
The world has manufactured a few excuses to refuse the Good News of Jesus Christ, but they each sound much the same. The person is basically good and ignorance is their excuse. One of the primary tasks of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world of its sin. What comes out of the mouth is an excuse, but what is felt in the heart to produce this excuse? Right, the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Often this excuse comes when speaking of the dead. A nice monument is placed in the cemetery. The people speak of the dearly departed in glowing terms. A smooth and polished box is wrapped around the corpse. And those not spiritually inclined pretend that the man is somehow made better by these things. The funeral service dismisses and some no doubt examine their lives and fear they might be next on the list of that dreaded spectre. But the slight spiritual inclination is soon swallowed up in getting a cab or some other mundane care of life. How different is the passing of the believer?
The church opens up. The minister has taken the personal Bible of the dearly departed and made a service from those favorite highlighted verses. The loved ones gather to celebrate the life of one who blessed others with the light of Christ. Songs of joyful parting are sung. The box and marker are still there, but these do not matter so much. We celebrate Jesus in the life that is past and we look forward to a joyful reunion in Heaven. The funeral service dismisses and some no doubt examine the promises of Jesus and hope, at least a little, that they might be called next. The mundane cares of this world do not matter anymore to the one called home, and we praise God for the release from pain and suffering. How different indeed!
Praise the Lord on this fine day,Bucky
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