What Are You Waiting For? Open It!

Imagine that it’s your 10^th birthday.  This one is especially important because you’ve been told every day since you can remember that on your TENTH birthday, you’ll receive the most special gift you’ll ever get.  The day has arrived, and after you’ve bounded down the stairs and glance around the house, you spy it!  Just as promised, the most beautifully wrapped gift you’ve ever seen is waiting on the dining table, and it has your name on it.  You inspect the outside of the gift and marvel at the skill and quality of the wrapping paper.  The ribbon is exquisite!  This MUST be the most marvelous gift ever!  And when you take the hand-lettered tag in your small hands, you open it to reveal these words: “Not to be opened until your 21^st birthday.”

What wretched hoax is this?!  How can it be that something you’ve waited for so long can’t be fully appreciated until…YEARS from now?!  This can’t be right!  This “gift” in the box that was going to make you the envy of everyone you know can’t be fully appreciated until you’ve reached old age!  Not fair!  Whose idea was this anyway?

OK – stop imagining now.  We can all empathize with the poor child who expected something life-changing but only got the promise of such.  This is where I need your full attention – if you are a follower of Jesus, I fear you have experienced the same kind of “delayed gratification” as our 10-year old in the story.  Too often, we come to faith in Christ, and are thrilled to receive salvation – our beautiful gift – and assume we must delay opening it until we die and finally receive what God has prepared for us.  How sad for us.  After all, Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”  (John 10:10)

Let me be clear: if you are not a follower of Christ, the “Good News” message to you is that, though you are separated from God by your sin (and we ALL are), God Himself made a way for you to be reconciled to Him.  Jesus came to live and die and be resurrected for each of us, but we must acknowledge our need and submit ourselves to the life-giving Savior.  Paul summed it up when he wrote in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel (Good News) of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…” 

But Jesus came – by His own words – to give us more than just eternal life in heaven.  He intended for us to live as participants in the Kingdom of Heaven NOW!  In Matthew 4, Jesus said, “Repent!  For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”  And the next time Matthew records that Jesus preached, He taught us what living in the Kingdom of Heaven looks like.  He told us what was IN THE GIFT!  You would do well to read the whole passage in Matthew 5-7, but let me summarize some of the things Jesus told us we should be experiencing as followers of His.  These are the ways others will know we follow Him and these are the ways He makes our lives abundant NOW:

We are meek and merciful; seeking after the things that are righteous and pure.  We build bridges instead of tearing them down.  We love instead of despising; we bless others even when we are harmed by them.  We make such a difference in people’s lives that they honor God because of it.  How are you doing with all that?

We don’t act “righteous” on the outside, while allowing ourselves to harbor wrong feelings inside.  We do what we say we will do, even if it’s difficult.  We always “go above and beyond” in our dealings with others, including those who seek to take advantage of us.  We trust God to take care of us, and we know that He can even settle accounts for us.  We don’t need to condemn others for their behavior – that’s HIS job if they deserve it.  We just love them and live in such a way that they want to know why we are like we are!  And then WE get to share OUR Good News with THEM.  Are you still doing OK?

The Gospel is our invitation to eternal life.  But aren’t you grateful you don’t have to wait until you die to enjoy the gift?  When we come to faith, we admit, “Jesus, I don’t have any way to make up for my sin except to trust You to do it for me.”  And in response, Jesus says, “I’ll take care of that.  And by the way, I have a gift for you.  But don’t wait to open it, because you’ll enjoy it much more if you open it NOW!”  What a great idea! 

Jacob

Do You Have Faith Like a Child?

The older I get, the harder it is to remember what it was like to be a kid.  I remember moments from my childhood, but what seems to leave our memories as we age is what it was to like have the “mindset” of a child.  What do kids think about?  How do they approach each new day?  Most kids in this country get out of bed without worries about what they’ll eat or where they’ll live.  They don’t seem to be overly concerned about what they’ll wear – they just put on whatever is close and start to live the new day, anticipating only good things!  They run and jump and laugh and enjoy life because they aren’t burdened about things over which they have no control.  Though I’m not to my point yet, I do want to remind us all of what Jesus said:

³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² ...For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.   Matthew 6:31-33

The point I DO want to make is that children just live life.  They accept that someone else is in charge – that someone else is responsible for them – and they dive into life with the gusto and freedom God intended.  They trust that whatever issues arise will be handled by someone who loves them.  The hard questions that children shouldn’t need to answer are resolved by someone that knows more than they do.  Concerns about health, money, and the future rarely enter their minds.  They just live life knowing that whatever comes up, someone with the resources to handle it will be there to protect them from facing challenges they have no power to resolve.  It is especially sad when children don’t feel that protection, but that’s for another day.

Why is it that adults, at some point in their lives, seem to conclude that THEY are in charge – that THEY are responsible for how life will unfold?  Do you have power over your circumstances or the future?  Can you determine how life will treat you?  Sure, it’s important to accept personal responsibility for your health and provision.  Eating right and going to work are presupposed.  But you have no control over the outside influences on your life.  Hurricanes, cancer, and drunk drivers are beyond your scope.  Sometimes bad stuff happens in life that you can't prevent.  

But God is there.  Just like our parents did when we were small, He handles the big stuff – the things that are outside our control.  Jesus even used a child to make that point to His disciples:

Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, ³ and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.   Matthew 18:2-4

The “gospel” isn’t just about forgiveness for sin and salvation through Jesus.  The Good News is also about being a part of God’s family in the Kingdom.  And Jesus’ death for us is what makes that possible.  Jesus used the term “Kingdom of Heaven” thirty times as recorded in the book of Matthew.  He kept repeating it because it was important for His followers to get the whole picture.  Our faith doesn’t just punch our ticket for heaven, it changes how we live NOW!  All the preaching Jesus did in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7) was so people would understand what living in the kingdom looked like. 

Kingdom living is about faith and humility and doing good to others and living in a way that brings glory to God.  Ask yourself this: “Has anyone honored God this week because my life prompted them to do so?”  Yet that’s what kingdom living is supposed to do.  Kingdom life is characterized by trust in the provision of God and sharing with others to advance the kingdom.  Kingdom living isn’t characterized by fear and anxiety, but by trust and generosity.  Jesus wanted to remind His disciples that children get it.  The gentle, loving, trusting preschooler is a good example for you to follow.  When we get older, we get tough and cynical and afraid.  And God just gently responds, “Don’t worry my child.  I’ve got this.”  Why not drive on over to the park and go down the slide, or swing a bit, just to remember what it was like.  I guarantee you’ll smile – and I think God will, too.

Jacob