"To Him be glory forever": John 10

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Longing For The End

For the past 18 months or so I have been working my way through a series of books, Reformed Confessions of the 16th and 17th Centuries in English Translation. There are four volumes in the series, each volume being in the 700-800 page range, and as of this morning I have less than 200 pages to go in volume four. The title may not sound very exciting to the average Christian but I have found it to be a fascinating experience, reading the various statements of faith within the Reformed tradition that were brought forth through the first two centuries of the Reformation.

It has been an interesting reading project but as is my habit in such a project, I am getting anxious to finish as the end draws near. I've got the next book on tap and I look forward to beginning it. I am longing for the end of this reading project. It is a longing I seem to sense with just about any book or reading project I am involved with as the end approaches.

My bible reading plan brought me into Revelation this week. So far I've read from the beginning through chapter 11. There are many symbolic and confusing parts to the last book of the bible, but one thing that we glimpse along the way, and is made clear in its final chapters, is the glorious ending God will one day bring to this world he has created and the people who have lived in it who have had faith in his son, Jesus. Part of the glory is the setting right of all the things that, right now, are not as they should be because of the presence of sin. In Genesis 3 we read of the sin of Adam and Eve, a first sin that has had terrible consequences. Some of these consequences we can see fairly easily and others reveal themselves over time, often tragically so.

Right now Robin has a dear friend suffering from the what is, at root, the downstream consequences of that first sin. Her ordinary state of health has virtually disappeared, without warning. One day everything was as it always was and two days later there are no guarantees as to how things will turn out. Not only is Robin's friend suffering, but also her family and friends.

Robin's friend is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. She has faith in Jesus and while everything else about her situation may be uncertain one thing that she can trust is the faithfulness of her Savior. He holds her and will never let her go. He holds her and nothing will ever take her from his hand. Don't take my word for it. God put those promises in his word, in Romans 8 and John 10.

Thinking about Robin's friend brings up in me a longing for the end. Not a longing that I have to finish a reading project, or a longing for Robin's friend's illness to resolve, but a longing for that day when God will bring all things together and draw all his children to his very presence, where they will worship and enjoy that presence forever. Amen.

Thursday, May 4, 2017

No Other Options

In my last post, which was derived from my piece for our church newsletter, I encouraged people to think of one friend or family member they know who is not a Christian and to pray for that person daily in the month of May. I suggested two different parts to those prayers, which were:

1) Pray that God might soften their heart and prepare them to receive the good news of Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

2) Pray that you might be sensitive to an opportunity to serve God in working to reach that person. This could happen in any number of ways, such as being willing to pray for them over a situation in their life, or inviting them to come to church with you, or perhaps even directly sharing the Gospel with them.

There is a road leading east of town I run on several times a week. In doing so I go past a ranch, where there are some cattle, horses and goats. We live in a part of the country where there are predators, including coyotes and mountain lions. I've never seen a lion in the wild but early one morning I did see a dead deer in the area of that ranch that had recently been fed on by a large animal.

At that ranch the horses and cattle are generally out all night, year-round. But the goats are brought in to a fenced area near the barn and house every night. The goats may or may not know the dangers around them, but the rancher knows, and in they come, each night. For the safety of his herd there are no other options.

The refuge found in the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is so much like what I see with the goats that even Jesus speaks of it in similar terms, saying this in John 10:7,

"So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.""

The hazards of the world, both the visible and the invisible, are very real. The damage that can result from some of them is eternal. Jesus never promises that we will go through life problem-free, but He does offer the only place of safety from the very worst of hazards, which is spending eternity apart from Him.

When it comes to a person's eternal destiny, the only place is through Jesus. There are no other options.

As you continue to pray this month for your non-believing friends may they come to find in Jesus the way, the only way, to everlasting safety, peace and joy.