October 2
Isaiah 66:1-24 | PS 74:1-23 | Prov 24:15-16 | Phil 3:4-21
One of the most foolish bumper stickers I have seen is, "He who dies with the most toys wins". Every week we read of one person or another dying. What they have amassed on earth is of no consequence. It has been said that our time on earth is like the little red handle on a jump-rope, with eternity being the rope which continues endlessly. How often we foolishly focus all of our thoughts, hope, and attention on that little red handle, ignoring the rope which lasts much longer.. We read in Ecclesiastes 7:2 (NIV), "It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart." I have had the opportunity to speak at a number of memorial services, and what one has amassed is never part of the discussion. We are meant to matter for Jesus Christ while on earth. We are His ambassadors. Eternity in Paradise is not a given, and it is not earned by our "good" lives. It was purchased for us by Jesus, who went to the cross and paid for our sins, and we can take confidence in His words, "It is finished" (John 19:30), also rendered "Paid in full". Though His offer is free, we must repent of our sins and accept His offer. In the end, this decision is all that matters.
In Isaiah 66:2, we read the one whom God takes notice of, "...But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word." Paul had amassed quite a resume at a very young age, yet he rightly states in Philippians 3:8, "Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ". This is a far cry from celebrating over the most toys when one reaches the end of his/her life. Many are horrified by past mistakes, or lifted up in pride by past accomplishments. Paul reflects on this as we read in 3:12-14, "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
The most important decision we can make is to realize the sinners that we are, and place our full weight on our only hope, the Lord Jesus Christ, understanding Philippians 3:20, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,". With this established, we then move forward as His ambassadors on earth, day by day, minute by minute, seeking to serve our King always. This is our walk while on this earth, not the accumulation of stuff, of toys, that will one day amount to nothing. Our opportunities are endless, but are our eyes open to visualize them?
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: