Today was one of those days that went so well it's a shame that there weren't more hours in the day. Sometimes we wish that there were more hours in the day because we didn't get finished what we were supposed to get finished, but today wasn't like that at all. First of all, today was a Sunday, so right off the bat, it's going to be a great day. It's been a week since I've seen most of my church family, and I'm excited to see them at Church on Sundays. It was just a great day. So after Church, I'm planning on meeting friends for lunch, because that is a nice, comfortable thing to do. But by the time I got off of our campus, my vision of ordering off a menu while seated outdoors in the middle of a pleasant breeze quickly vanished and was replaced by being able to have half a burrito, cheeseburger and fries. So instead of heading to meet our friends for lunch, we headed to their house (via Rite aid to pick up some Thrifty's Vanilla Ice Cream and Root Beer and Orange Soda. Oh yeah, baby. You do the math.) So the plan was now to help my friends with their yardwork. I didn't really take into account how hot it actually was today. So I'm pulling weeds, thinking about the sun hitting the back of my neck between my shirt and my hair. For me, I've noticed that it is much easier to pull my friends' weeds than it is to pull my own. Why is that? So it's hot, we're out in it, working in the yard, and the discussion thread comes up about whether it is a good time for one of us to go in and get some water so we can take a little break. We were in no hurry really, since as grown men, we know that the sooner and more often you take a break, the harder it is to get your work finished. So we decided that we would wait on the water, and continue working to at least pick up the weeds and leaves that we had collected. No sooner had we made this fine and responsible decision, than we are joined by his wife, carrying for us glasses filled with, as it turns out, strawberries blended with orange soda and ice. She even had garnished the rim of the glass with a cut strawberry. Nice. Why is it nice? Is that even a question that is worth asking? Isn't it obvious? Actually, I don't think that it is that obvious. Sure, the drink itself was really nice. It was sweet, cold, made just for us. But wouldn't a nice glass of ice water have been nice too? Absolutely. So it's not the drink in and of itself that makes this "nice." What about the time and effort it took to prepare the drink? Surely that was what made it special, that a special person prepared drinks for her husband and friend, both special people if I do say so myself. Surely this is the reason that this was "nice," right? But what if we had an ice chest of bottled water in ice? There would be minimal preparation, if any, save for dumping a bag of ice over the water that we would dump in the cooler. Would those bottles of water be nice? Certainly. What about the fact that our labor and discomfort was able to be stopped and replaced by a refreshing moment. The work was able to be put aside, and there was a light at the end of the tunnel. The discomfort ended and was replaced by comfort. These all contribute to the "nice" but it's not any one thing that makes it nice. It's a whole bunch of things. It wasn't one irreplaceable thing. It's interesting, because it wasn't until I hit this point in my day, that I really was able to appreciate some of the other comforts I had been blessed with. When I got up this morning, I was able to get up in my home, with a roof, clean running water, a refrigerator with food in it. I was able to get dressed with a huge choice of clothes that I could wear for the day. I was able to get in my car to go to worship freely and openly without fear of persecution. Though I did not get a chance to meet friends for lunch at the restaurant, I was able to enjoy a half of a burrito (still much larger than many meals for many people), and a half of a cheeseburger (still larger than many meals for many people) and fries too. While working, I had no fear of our not stopping at some point. If we worked to where we were tired, we could stop and rest at any time, or even go into the house and turn on the air conditioner (and that's only because we were not at my house because I'm too cheap to turn mine on). So when we were still working, we were given an unexpected rest, with an unexpected drink providing unexpected comfort. What would it have looked like had we not taken the drinks? Why not? Why would we not take a drink, exactly what we needed, that was provided by someone special for people special to them? What if our reason was that we did not believe that somebody actually made the drink. We did not believe that there was an actual drink in the glass. So because of this, we didn't even take the glasses. We left them to sit. Even though they were prepared for us. You mean you didn't even take the glass and see what was in it? Nope. Now what if we understood that the drinks were for us, that somebody special prepared them for people special to them, but we didn't think they would be any good at all? Does that make any sense either? What about if we were to reject the fact that there was even a person at all who prepared the drinks for us at all? Well, whether we believe that this person exists or not, it doesn't change the fact that they do exist and have something for us. I know, it sounds ridiculous, and the point is getting abused to the point of being watered down (pun intended). When we do this to a drink that I had earlier in the day, that's one thing. When we do this to Jesus Christ, that's something totally different. You see, we can pass up a drink, because most of us are fortunate to know that there will be another drink coming along in the future. When we reject Jesus Christ, we do not have any other hope that anyone else can and will do for us what Jesus has done. It's not like the drink that maybe we could get ourselves. It's not like the drink that could be interchanged. Jesus is the person, and his death, burial and resurrection is the gift. That's it. There is no backup plan, there is no substitute for Christ. Jesus said in John 14:6 that He "is the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through" Jesus. Most people feel that they are pretty good people. When we compare ourselves to the God in the Bible however, we don't look so good. The Ten Commandments are outlined in the second book of the Bible, Exodus 20:3-17. If the Commandments seem like a breeze to keep, it's important to remember that God is not only talking about our actions, but he can see our hearts and our thoughts. Jesus gives us an idea as to what God's standard is in Matthew 5:21-30, when he equates hatred to murder. To us, big difference. To God, it's cut from the same cloth. So not only do our actions separate us from God, the Bibles tell us that Romans 6:23 "the wages of sin is death." If that were all, and there were no light at the end of the tunnel, we would be without hope, but the verse continues with a big "but, the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." This is huge. So because our actions have separated us from God, and because we had a penalty that we owed, Jesus Christ provided the death, so we could have life in Him. That is why he died on the cross, to fulfill the "death" part of our "wages". But that wasn't all. When Jesus died as a substitute for us in paying for our sins, being God, He was able to defeat death and rise from the dead 3 days later, proving that He is God. That is why we celebrate Easter, to remember Christ's resurrection. Without the resurrection, we have no different a story than anyone else in history who had died. So if Jesus did this for you, are you going to deny his existence? Are you going to question his gift? Or are you ready to accept Him for who He is and for what He has done. He said in John 4:13-14, that anyone who drinks ordinary water "will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." My drink earlier today was good. It was really nice. But it wasn't Jesus. Until next time.
Grace and glory,