Those of us who worshipped in a thriving church yesterday are blessed beyond belief. I hope you are energized for the week ahead, no matter what it holds, and know that God knows you and loves you and you can rely on that in faith.
Sometimes it’s good to read a Bible passage in various translations. That’s the case with my desk calendar today from Susie Larson’s Blessings for Every Day. Here’s the context. Jesus was teaching in parables in chapter 13 of Matthew, and the disciples asked why he taught in parables. The response was interesting, and puzzled them, I’m sure, until Jesus explained to them that some people hear and see, but without meaning, but that their eyes were open and their hears heard. I take that to mean that His chosen ones, when they hear God speak, are attentive and the seed of truth lies in fertile ground. It changes their very perception of truth. If you attend a vibrant church like I do and hear the Word faithfully preached and the principles of Jesus truthfully taught, you are blessed way beyond those who think of church as a Sunday duty or who never think about their spiritual life at all. What a pity.
The ESV says it this way: Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” The Message translation puts it this way: “But you ahve God-blessed eyes–eyes that see! And God-blessed ears–ears that hear. A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance.” She goes on to expound on this passage like this: “May you be so aware of God’s love that you live as one who is spoken for. May you be so in tune to His voice that the kingdom of God comes everywhere you place your feet. May you be so moved by His loving heart for the least and the lost that you’re quick to see them, quick to reach them. And may you be so profoundly aware of God’s song over your life that it puts a spring in your step. Walk blessed today. You matter deeply to God.”
My prayer is that no matter what our circumstances in the next hour, day, month, year, or decade, your belief in God’s promises is so strong that you want to stay closely in touch with Him in exercising your faith. If you’ve lost touch, or are in a church that is not nourishing your soul and saving the souls of others, then it’s time to “see and listen” and change what needs changing. For as 1 Thessalonians 5:10-11 says, He died for us so that we can live with Him forever, whether we are dead or alive at the time of His return. So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. (New Living Translation) The ESV puts it this way: “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with Him. Therefore encourage one another and built one another up just as you are doing.”
There’s no doubt, we are living in perilous times, as man has from the Fall in the Garden of Eden, but we see a world which mocks Christ, or ignores Him and His purpose for our souls, and where storms, wars, famine, and cultural decay seem oh, so present. God calls us to encourage one another in our faith, to share its evidence in our lives, to reach to those who do not yet know Jesus, and then we will live through these days as those who belong, not just to this mortal world, but to the heavenly kingdom where we rightly belong. I encourage you to nourish your souls for the times ahead. Someday is here.
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