"He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it."
Isaiah 25:8
This chapter is talking about the Second Coming, but I think we can benefit from it now. It's God, telling us that at the end of the world, death will be swallowed up in victory, that tears and rebuke will be no more... basically that all of it will have been worth it. Often we try to stand aside, weighing the personal "cost" of religion or obedience to God, weighing it in the balance like it is just another choice... a job or an education, or a new toy. And sometimes we decide it isn't worth it to us, because the cost is "too high" ... but what we mean is that we would actually have to work, or re-evaluate our priorities, or humble ourselves, or change our habits, or repent... or some other thing that we love *more* than God and that we are unwilling to let go of. We even try, sometimes, to say that heaven will be boring so we don't want to go there.
Here is God's promise, that the ending is happy, that it is all worth it. As for boring, that's just ludicrous. Walking on water or creating a universe is _boring_? Being able to learn everything there is to know is boring? Do we think that eternity is going to be spent on the couch trying to find something new on Netflix? Today, let's trust God, not only that he will do as he says and help us find eternal life, but let's stop diminishing God's promises by making them sounds dull or pointless. If we stick with God, our future is going to be better than we can possibly imagine... WE are going to be better than we could ever become on our own. Let's stop trying to talk ourselves out of it because it reeks of effort, and let's start making some changes, and act a little more like we care what happens to us. Let's have some hope in the future, and start spreading that hope around instead of crushing even our own dreams before they have a chance. We *can* be more than this. We *will* be more than this, better and greater and happier and brighter. Yeah, it takes some effort, but nothing that won't be made up for 7 billion times over in goodness and in what we become. Let's trust God and try.
Isaiah 25:8
This chapter is talking about the Second Coming, but I think we can benefit from it now. It's God, telling us that at the end of the world, death will be swallowed up in victory, that tears and rebuke will be no more... basically that all of it will have been worth it. Often we try to stand aside, weighing the personal "cost" of religion or obedience to God, weighing it in the balance like it is just another choice... a job or an education, or a new toy. And sometimes we decide it isn't worth it to us, because the cost is "too high" ... but what we mean is that we would actually have to work, or re-evaluate our priorities, or humble ourselves, or change our habits, or repent... or some other thing that we love *more* than God and that we are unwilling to let go of. We even try, sometimes, to say that heaven will be boring so we don't want to go there.
Here is God's promise, that the ending is happy, that it is all worth it. As for boring, that's just ludicrous. Walking on water or creating a universe is _boring_? Being able to learn everything there is to know is boring? Do we think that eternity is going to be spent on the couch trying to find something new on Netflix? Today, let's trust God, not only that he will do as he says and help us find eternal life, but let's stop diminishing God's promises by making them sounds dull or pointless. If we stick with God, our future is going to be better than we can possibly imagine... WE are going to be better than we could ever become on our own. Let's stop trying to talk ourselves out of it because it reeks of effort, and let's start making some changes, and act a little more like we care what happens to us. Let's have some hope in the future, and start spreading that hope around instead of crushing even our own dreams before they have a chance. We *can* be more than this. We *will* be more than this, better and greater and happier and brighter. Yeah, it takes some effort, but nothing that won't be made up for 7 billion times over in goodness and in what we become. Let's trust God and try.
No comments:
Post a Comment