ODJ: maybe?
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish (v.28).
READ: John 10:22-30
I sat in the dark atop a mountain overlooking a lost city. Above my head, a Mindanaon downpour assaulted the tin roof of the bungalow I called home. I had just learned that my best friend from high school had died. Along with the torrential rain came a flood of memories, both good and bad.
About the time my friend turned 20, he had trusted in Jesus. But just a couple of years ago, he told me, “I no longer believe in the so-called God.” That statement haunts me.
I can’t vouch for my friend’s spiritual beliefs; neither can I vouch for the beliefs of the band Collective Soul. Still, much of their music resonates with my spirit. And on this dark night, their song “Maybe” captured my thoughts precisely:
Where am I to take refuge when the storms of pain release. Shelter me. This blessedness of life, it sometimes brings me to my knees. I call on Thee. And I have not the words to write a farewell to you tonight. Maybe God you found. “Maybe” is all that you can offer now.
It’s that refrain “maybe” that gets me. How much more comforting is another song by Collective Soul! “Once was blind but now I see; salvation has discovered me. This precious declaration means I believe all hope is dead no longer.”
I don’t know where my friend is. But through it all, my faith remains in Jesus, who made this precious declaration: “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from Me” (John 10:27-29).
In the end, it isn’t about idle words we may say; it’s about what Jesus did and said! And it’s about our heart-belief toward Him. I’ve chosen to believe Him. Life is far too short to trust in maybe. —Tim Gustafson
Who do you think Jesus is? Is He simply a good man? Why should you believe in Him?
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Loading ...ODB: a spiritual journey
July 12, 2010
READ: Acts 17:22-31
You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. —1 Thessalonians 1:9
The miracles that God worked through Moses challenged the many gods of Pharaoh. Yet, in another time, there was a Pharaoh who promoted the belief in one deity. Pharaoh Akhenaten pointed to the rising and setting sun as the great deity who gave life to the earth. His religious symbol for Aton, the sun god, was represented by a single disc of light with emanating rays. Though this Pharaoh’s idea came closer to the one God of the Bible, it was still idolatry.
When Paul addressed the people in Athens, he was grieved by the idolatry in that city. Yet he used the people’s imperfect understanding of God to point them to the God of Scripture. Of their efforts in trying to find God, Paul said: “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands” (Acts 17:24).
In our increasingly pluralistic world, the people around us may worship a multiplicity of deities. Yet their spiritual journey need not end there. We never know when someone might be moving toward the kingdom of God. Following the example of Paul, we should respect a person’s religious background, watch for spiritual receptivity, and then point him or her to the one true God of Scripture. —Dennis Fisher
God alone is worthy of our worship.
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