I cannot look at too much news, it hurts my heart. For that, I ask God for His strength to remain firm in my faith and I ask for His comfort and peace, so I will always remember that the God who created us, sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins and to give believers eternal life, is the same God that sees all that is happening. In fact, He allows this to happen. He is the God of both love and justice. He has vindicated the evil in this world; our Easter celebration is supposed to remind us of that victory. But until that victory is realized in the eternal world, we live the rest of our days in this broken world where we see the effects of the continued presence and power of sin.
One day, we don’t know when, there will be a final call. Our God will call those who believe in Him to an eternal life – a life that our triune God originally planned in Genesis and then revealed:
Revelation 21:3-4 – And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
In our human weakness, we are impatient for this world to get better. But it will not, it will be replaced! The question that should be foremost in everyone’s mind is: Where will I spend eternity?
2 Peter 3:9 – The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
During this COVID-19 crisis, the entire world is being asked to isolate. Christians are called to strengthen and encourage each other in community. But, right now, I cannot think of a greater gift than being given more time, without the usual worldly distractions, to go to God for (A) strength and comfort, (B) repentance and renewed commitment, or (C) repentance and first-time commitment. The choice in this circumstance, as it is in every other circumstance, is ours.
During this time, we cannot forget the message in the teachings of Jesus. The most important is this: Love God and Love Your Neighbor!
In Matthew 25, we are given some instruction about what it means to LOVE GOD. In Scripture, ‘LOVE’ is never the commonly accepted view of some personal feeling or emotion we get about someone; it is the wholehearted commitment and devotion to God. (Think SHEMA in Deuteronomy 6:4-9)*
Jesus talks about the Parable of the Ten Virgins – Five were wise and five were foolish. The wise ones were prepared, the foolish were not. Do you ‘Love God’? How are you spending this time He has given you? Are you prepared or are there distractions in your life that seem more important? At the end of this parable, the Lord does not open the door for the foolish, but instead replies, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ 😢
Jesus then gives the Parable of the Bags of Gold – where a man goes on a journey and leaves his servants with varying amounts of His wealth to be the caretakers during His absence. Two of His servants had used what was given to them to the benefit of their master and upon his return, they both hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” The last servant, after hiding what the man had entrusted to him, simply tries to give it back, complaining that the way that His master operates frightened him. The master calls him both wicked and lazy for not doing what was right, with what was entrusted to him even though this man admitted that he KNEW how the master operated. This servant is thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 😬
Finally, Jesus gives the last parable, The Sheep and the Goats. On that day, all the nations will gather before the throne and the people will be separated – as a shepherd would separate the sheep from the goats.
He tells the sheep, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world…”
He tells the goats, “Depart from me, you who are cursed…”
This final parable is meant for self-reflection especially given the instructions in the two previous parables.
Do you really believe that Jesus is your savior? If you do, what should be your response? Do you hold onto your personal desires and spend your time on worldly distractions? Do you think you will have the time to ‘get to the things of God’, later? Then, by the first parable, you are foolish.
And by the second parable, you are wicked and lazy. (To be fair, maybe you’re frightened by what you think God is calling you to do? Why is that, I wonder? Are you looking at the gifts of others and thinking your contribution won’t be valuable enough for God? That your effort is not worth it or that God won’t be pleased? STOP! First of all, none of us sinful human creatures can please God! If you’re still trying to please Him by your actions, you have missed the entire story of the Bible! Only God knows what He has given you. He created you, He knows what you’re capable of doing. He is asking you to trust Him. And He is promising to help you, if you will let Him! ) He knows what He’s capable of doing with what you have to offer. But, it is still your choice… offer it to Him in trust and obedience or hide it, at your own risk.
So, are you a Sheep or a Goat? The details in that parable seem to make the distinction between a Sheep and a Goat, on how a person chooses to ‘Love Their Neighbor’ with the time they were given, with the talents and treasures they were given. (Matthew 25:31-46) God knows exactly how much of each you were given. He is patient and He loves you. Spend some of this time getting to know Him and finding out that truth for yourself.
* If you are unfamiliar with the SHEMA, you can explore more here: https://bibleproject.com/explore/shema-listen/
Thank you for that!