Living for Jesus
Our hope is not in this world
Having lived through the cultural revolution that shook this country in the 1960s, the attack on our country in 2002, the political arguing and shameful dividing of people into endless categories as well as the unabated moral erosion, I have learned that politics rarely has anything to do with “we the people.” So, I live as peacefully and obediently as I can under whoever currently has the power. (Romans 13:1)
There is a cost
That is not to say that my wife nor I live with our heads firmly embedded in the ground. We care for the poor, the widows, the orphans, the prisoners, not just in other countries but here, also, and we’ve done this throughout our adult lives. (Matthew 25:36, James 1:27)
We try to love people because Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:31)” We’ve personally been robbed, ridiculed, rejected, threatened with a lawsuit and numerous other attacks simply because of trying to keep Christ’s commandments.
Living for Jesus
Don’t misunderstand me. I find foolishness, sin, and failures in so many things I’ve done and no doubt I will fail again. My point of this message is simple: I doubt that I’m all that different from you or other Christians. We receive each day as a gift from our Lord, Jesus Christ, and within the constraints of the day we’ve been given, we commit ourselves to keep the commands of Jesus because He said, “If you love me you will keep my commands. (John 14:15)”
If I should live 100 years, what is that when compared to eternity? In this physical world the only things that have value are intangible things. Think about that. Salvation, love, honor, respect, compassion, obedience, holiness, caring for strangers. These are the things that have eternal value; things that we carry with us from this world to the next. (Romans 14:12)
100 hour weeks aren’t worth it
If you have not yet received Jesus as your personal Savior, consider this: How silly it is for us to take 100s of hours from our lives to gain things that have no eternal value. In fact, doing so squanders the gift of time that our Maker has given us. Now you may think I am a fool. Take comfort, for you are not the first and won’t be the last that has reached this conclusion. Still, my salvation through faith in Jesus has forever changed me for the good, and I desire the same for you. (Acts 26:29)
Photo credit: Georg Sander on Visualhunt / CC BY-NC
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https://rockexcavationservice.org/2019/09/20/because-god-is-able/