The Conclusion part 1
A lot of times I wonder what in the world we're talking about. We get so stuck on things like "hell" and the "afterlife" that we miss out on things like the days of heaven on earth. Things like abundant life. We read the Law and the Prophets and we miss out on Jesus! Here's my point, and my key verse for this Rant series: "That's the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone's duty" (Ecclesiastes 12:13 NLT). I like the book of Ecclesiates, because I really think it hits on the "without God human experience." Something we're all familiar with. Even me. I grew up in the church, but even still I had a "wilderness experience." Wandering around trying to figure it out all. Looking for love in all the wrong places. Thinking I could do it myself and didn't need anybody else. Certainly not God. But guess what: I came to the same conclusion. Vanity, vanity, all is vanity. Not only could I not do it myself, I didn't even know what "it" was. The song line, "How can I be lost, if I've got nowhere to go?" fit my life perfectly. But then God stepped in. My dad--a pastor--knew that I needed a job. And his best friend--another pastor--needed summer help at his job and could get me in. So for a whole summer I got to ride around in a truck with the man who would become MY pastor, and my Spiritual father. Because he showed me what I was missing. What I was looking for. He showed me a more excellent way. He showed me the answer. The conclusion. The solution. He showed me Jesus. And that's it right there. "Fear God and obey His commands." I plan to get into that word "fear" in the next couple of days, but for today I just want to say we could easily render it as "Be in awe of." It's not fear in the sense of being afraid. Because perfect love CASTS OUT fear. There is no fear in love. And God is love. And I plan to get into the "commands" in this series too. But for today I want to quote the New Commandment. Because we are a New Man, so that's the one that applies to us. "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34). Not surprisingly, these two conclusions go hand in hand. Be in awe of God because He loves you. And love one another with that same love. That's the whole point. That's the bottom line. That's why we're here. We were created by the God who is love to be an expression of Himself. An expression of love. We are God's love letter to all of creation. To ourselves, to each other, to the earth and everything in it. The days of heaven ON EARTH, remember? This life isn't meant for always trying to get something you don't have and always trying to be someone you're not and always trying to get to somewhere else. This life is for living. For being who you are, where you are, with what you've got. And that's why God's Word TELLS us who we are, what we've got, where we are, and why we're here by telling us who Jesus is, what He did on the cross, and what it means for us today. The Bible isn't a "how to live" manual. It's a picture of the One who lives in you. The whole story--history--is HIS story. And it's OUR story when we find ourselves in Him, and find Him in ourselves. That's my conclusion, anyway. Christ in you, the hope of glory, is the mystery that has been (and continually is being) revealed to you, and in you, and through you, and as you!