July 6, 2018

Are You Ready?

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

– 1 Corinthians 15:51-52

The sound shattered the morning stillness. I turned in time to see rubber flying and a sleek sports car jerking first one way and then another as the driver tried desperately to control it. A blown tire, successful efforts to keep the car from rolling and then a crash into the side of the store.

It was over in seconds. That’s exactly how long it takes for your life to change course forever.

Miracles happened. The normally busy intersection was void in that moment of other vehicles. The crowded store just happened to have no one parked on the side where the car hit. The wall of the store held up, smashing the front of the car but not allowing it to enter the building where unsuspecting shoppers went about their day.

No one died. We are thankful. Injuries can heal. Cars can be repaired or replaced. Another day will dawn. There is still time.

But what if the end result had been different? What if you had been the one driving? What if those seconds were your last on this earth? Are you ready? Are you sure?

We always think we have more time. We always believe that horrible things happen to someone else. We always plan like tomorrow is a guarantee. Until it isn’t.

Paul warned the Corinthians that all could change in an instant. That’s how Christ will return. There won’t be a warning. Two will be at work and one will be taken and one will remain. There won’t be time to get right with God, to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, to change behavior, hearts, and minds.

This letter contained so much wisdom. Paul tells us that love is patient and kind. He warns against the division amongst themselves. They were so busy fighting each other that they were missing the point. They were missing Christ.

It sounds a lot like Christians today. We are so busy pointing fingers at other Christians, spewing hatred toward others, and protecting our “rights,” that we miss the common core. We miss Jesus.

God knows your heart. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many times you quote the Bible if you don’t live it from your heart. It doesn’t matter how earnest your prayers if your only goal is to mold His will to your own. And it doesn’t matter how much you value yourself if you look down on the broken, the lost, the hurting, and refuse to help.

The church in Corinth didn’t survive. Will we?

May 13, 2016

Jesus Leads The Way

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. -- Luke 23:34

As far as anniversaries go, it really isn’t a major one. And yet it changed so many lives forever.

One person made a decision. It was his to make, though no one else agreed with it. That set off a chain reaction of events and consequences that we will live with for the rest of our lives.

It wasn’t so much that the decision changed us all. It’s that the decision, and its aftermath, revealed hearts and desires and motives that had been carefully hidden from view. Once exposed, such things never go back into hiding. We are all different for that.

The events began a long, long time ago. It’s what happens when anger and resentment and jealousy aren’t dealt with and are instead allowed to fester and grow. It’s what happens in broken families who focus on pretending to be what they aren’t rather than trying to become what they desire.

It comes back to the hearts of the people involved. We’re all flawed. We’re humans after all. But lies and hatred are a lethal combination, one that can only be overcome with prayer.

The Pharisees hated Jesus. They felt threatened by Him. Certainly, Jesus knew who and what they were. So they rallied a crowd against Him and Jesus died an unimaginable death on the cross.

While people watched. What could possibly have been in the hearts of those who watched Jesus die? Certainly some of those who loved Him were there. His mother. John. Others.

But what about those who were part of the crowd? How could they join the frenzy? And how could they live with themselves afterwards? Even if they didn’t believe Jesus to be the Messiah, surely they understood that a good man shouldn’t die for the sins of others?

And, yet, He did. Jesus died for me and you. He died for us all so that whoever believes in Him, believes that He rose three days later and now sits at God’s right hand, will spend eternity with Him in heaven.

And you know what else this passage says? Jesus forgave them. As He suffered on that cross, Jesus forgave those who put Him there. How powerful! How magnificent! How could we ever not forgive our own to tormentors?

Life will never be the same. Forgiveness is hard. But Jesus lights the path and I follow Him. In the end, that’s really all that matters.