The Final Goal: Time Is Running Out
Read: 2 Peter 3:8-13
The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. – 2 Peter 3:9
Time is running out for the World Cup. After each tournament, the name of the winning country and the year of their World Cup victory are engraved on the bottom side of the trophy. But space on the base will run out in 2038.
The Bible warns that our time is running out as well. “The day of the Lord” is the phrase used to refer to the time when Jesus returns to judge the world. We are told it will come “as unexpectedly as a thief” (2 Peter 3:10).
It is easy to be complacent about Jesus’ return and not worry too much about it, but we are told the whole earth is reserved for this day and now awaits it. “The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise . . . . No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent” (v.9). Jesus is definitely coming back. The reason He hasn’t yet is so that we have time to give our lives to Him before it’s too late.
We know the current World Cup trophy won’t run out of space until 2038, but our time to turn to Jesus may run out tomorrow. Let’s not waste anymore time living without Him! Turn to Him today! —Chris Wale
Time waits for no one,
but Jesus waits for us to turn to Him.
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If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me (v.21).
READ: Matthew 19:16-30
Some people suppose that the offer of salvation is similar to other big-ticket items. Beds, refrigerators, and automobiles cost more than most people can afford, so stores often offer these products for no money down. Customers can enjoy these products for a year or so before beginning the dreaded monthly payments that slowly but surely drain their bank account. Likewise salvation costs nothing up front, but those who receive Jesus as Savior should eventually pay the price of making Him their Lord.
But this is backwards, for receiving salvation is the opposite of purchasing a car or couch. Unlike them, salvation is affordable to all. It does not lie beyond anyone’s price range (for Jesus has paid our debt to God), but it does demand that we put all our money down—and everything else that we are and have (Matthew 19:21).
Jesus explained that all who want to follow Him must “turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow Me,” for only those who lose their lives for His sake will save their lives (16:24-25). This makes sense, for it’s hard to argue that Jesus is our Savior if He’s not also our Lord. How can we claim that He has rescued us from sin if we remain enslaved to it?
Augustine explained the cost of salvation this way: “Give yourself, and you’ve got it. What are you worrying about? Why are you in such a sweat? You aren’t going to have to go looking for yourself, are you, or to go and buy yourself? Look, it’s you, who you are, what you are; give yourself for that thing, and you’ve got it.”
The gospel is free, but it doesn’t come cheap. It cost Jesus His life, and if we wish to receive His great salvation, it will cost ours too. —Mike Wittmer
What aspect of your life—a relationship, possession, talent, or activity—do you need to release to Jesus? Empty your pockets and enjoy the fullness of His salvation.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Do You Care That I’m in Pain?
By Natasha Pavez, 18, Australia
PART 1 – Disillusionment of self in suffering
I’ve been looking for a lifeline,
Is there anybody out there?
Can you pull me from this ocean of despair?
I’m drowning in the pain, breaking down again
Looking for a lifeline
This is the chorus to the song “Lifeline” by secular American band Papa Roach. And it’s a song that I’ve been listening to a lot lately.
The obvious recurring theme throughout the rock tune is the search for hope in the midst of pain. Truth be told, we all go through pain. But it is something that we don’t like to see happen to those around us or much less experience it ourselves. It gets especially difficult when it is our Christian friends who suffer aimlessly without remembering God.
Recently, I had this conversation with a friend of mine, Lauren, which got me thinking about this disillusionment in pain. As she was like a little sister to me, her words weren’t shocking, but it wasn’t comforting either.
“Everything just doesn’t feel right at the moment. I don’t have any of my friends left and I’ve just given up on God. I mean, really? I guess He’s out there, but it’s not like He needs me for anything. I can’t be bothered anymore. It’s not like I could have a relationship with Him anyway with how my thoughts are at the moment.”
These were probably words that I, too, had muttered in my adolescent years.
For all Christians, there are times where you struggle with your belief and question with its authenticity. These questions create a lot of doubt in your faith and some end up giving up.
Like Lauren, everything that you thought you knew starts hitting back at you. And when you’re feeling like a complete mess, and the world is too, the natural response is, “Right. God clearly doesn’t care about the world. He’s not going to care about me. Why then should I care too?”
Lies and doubt creep into our hearts and look to destroy the relationship we have with Jesus, our Lord.
C.S. Lewis wrote in his book The Problem of Pain, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
That doesn’t mean God throws the suffering on to us as a punishment because we’re not listening to him. It means that God is present in the midst of suffering. He uses our difficult situations to make Himself more present to the world.
Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through,
as if something strange were happening to you.
Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering,
so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory
when it is revealed to all the world.
1 Peter 4:12-13
READ NEXT >>Drawing near to God in suffering
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5) Loading ...Do You Care That I’m in Pain? [Part 2]
<< PART 1 – Disillusionment of self in suffering
PART 2 – Drawing near to God in suffering
Pain is not an illusion as many pugilists may lay claim to. It is a reality that affects us physically and emotionally.
Though pain may drive us to disillusionment, it also can drive us closer to God. Jesus is the example to whom we should look to in understanding suffering. Hebrews 2:10 says, “God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that He should make Jesus, through His suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.”
Jesus is our perfect leader who has tasted death for us and now we have a perfect example of One who has suffered, bled and died for our sake.
Tegan, a friend of mine, developed an incurable illness and now she can’t have kids (and by the way she really loves kids). And it was through these difficult times that her relationship with God grew deeper as she learned to rely on Him more.
Here is an excerpt of a conversation we had.
Me: [With an incredulous tone] How on earth are you not rocking in a corner, trying to convince yourself it’s a nightmare?!
Tegan: Whatever this is, God has given it to me because He has something more important in store. Maybe it’s so that I could focus on mission work. Maybe there’s a kid He wants me to adopt. I’m not sure, but He’s got the right plan.
Me: [Jaw drops]
Tegan: [She continues] And when I was completely frightened and upset over this, the only person who could help me through was God. What could my family and friends do? They don’t understand how hard this is. But He does. And I have to rely on Him to do what He wills.
Me: [Jaw hits the ground]
In speaking with her, the truth was reinforced once again—in our sufferings, we are make more aware of Him and of His goodness, and God is working to bring us closer to Him. He is the One who helped and is helping her through this difficulty.
We have a Savior who created and fashioned us in His likeness. He has forewarned of the difficulties this world holds but reassures us that He has already overcome it. Only He can promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us to the very end of the age.
If there is anyone who can get us through the tough journeys of life, Jesus can.
There are many times in a day where I’m put into difficult situations in which I must rely upon God and trust Him. And if I hadn’t, things really wouldn’t work out. All of us go through ups and downs in our life but nothing is too hard for God. Let’s remember: “with God everything is possible (Matthew 19:26b)”.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
READ NEXT >> Developing trust in God in suffering
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