A Final Word part 4
I just really like how Paul prefaced it, "A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power" (Ephesians 6:10, NLT). A final word. I've said a lot, but let me end with this. Once upon a time I was lining up a job interview. And when the person told me what times they had available, I immediately chose the last one. Because, to me, it seemed like a good idea to be the last person they saw. That way, I thought, if I made a good impression, it would wipe out every other candidate. And, full disclosure, I can't remember if it worked or not. But the logic seemed sound. That's the bottom line, because Stone Cold said so! End strong. Make a good first impression, but go out with a bang. And his final word, "Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power," it's so simple. Memorable. It's something that sticks with you--partly because it's the "final word" but partly because it's just that good. "Save the best for last." That kind of thing. Which, by the way, is why I end every episode of my podcast (or my YouTube videos, when I did YouTube videos) by saying, "I love you... and there's nothing you can do about it." That strong ending. If you don't get anything else from anything I've said... at least that final word will (hopefully) stick with you. Well, I'm telling you, "Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power"... that's a stick with you line. That's an amazing final word. Think about it--any time you're NOT feeling strong... you can hold on to that final word. And it's not just "Oh, you're not feeling strong? Well, be strong." Look at James 2:15-16 (NLT), "Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, "Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well"--but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?" It doesn't do any good. Just saying, "Hey, good luck with that," isn't really helpful. Just saying, "Be strong," doesn't really do anything. Which is why that's not the whole memory verse. Be strong... in the Lord! And in the power of HIS might! It's not just telling someone WHAT to do, it's telling them HOW to do it. If you could be strong on your own it wouldn't be an issue, right? If you could be strong on your own you wouldn't feel weak. You wouldn't need a final word. You'd be fine. But. Because we are all humans and we can't do this all on our own... here we are. Crying out to the heavens when things are too much for us. That's a pretty universal deal. People try to do it all on their own, get overwhelmed, and break down. But we don't have to. We can let Jesus take the wheel, to quote a country (pop) song. We can commit our ways to HIM. We can let God--love--be first choice not last chance. We can stop trying to do it all on our own. God's strength is made perfect in weakness. When we can't... that's when He will. Because that's when He has the opportunity to move. I believe God will let you try it by yourself, if that's what you want to do. But I KNOW God will hold you up and keep you from falling if you let Him. His strength is 100% available to us 100% of the time. Jesus preached that the Kingdom was at hand. Within our reach. And then He took it a step further and took up abode inside us. We are not just IN the Kingdom... we ARE the Kingdom, because the King is in us! So our source is strength is not external. It's internal. It's what's in our hearts. The love of God. Letting that out is how we are strong in HIS mighty power. God is all-powerful. Which means love is all-powerful. Which means when we love each other WE are all-powerful!