“Take hold of the life that really is life.”
Most of us are kept aware - by all media means - of everything that is happening in the world today. The content we are being shown is not encouraging. Tragedy and suffering are widespread. No doubt, anyone reading this has been personally touched by the pains 2020 and 2021 have held. For many, it feels like the end of the world must be on the horizon.
Statistically, Americans continue to enjoy the most liberty and material prosperity of all the peoples of the earth – currently and historically. Because of these blessings our nation manages to weather the onslaught of the dilemmas of the earth far better than most. Despite all the troubles, compared with the majority of the world, we are rich in more ways than we perceive.
In 1 Timothy 6:15-21, the Holy Spirit has an enduring encouragement - continuing commands and a faithful focus - to those of us who anticipate His soon return and are numbered among the wealthy of the earth:
God will bring Jesus back at a time that pleases him. God is the blessed and only Ruler. He is the greatest King of all. He is the most powerful Lord of all. God is the only one who can’t die. He lives in light that no one can get close to. No one has seen him. No one can see him. Honor and power belong to him forever. Amen.
Command people who are rich in this world not to be proud. Tell them not to put their hope in riches. Wealth is so uncertain. Command those who are rich to put their hope in God. He richly provides us with everything to enjoy. Command the rich to do what is good. Tell them to be rich in doing good things. They must give freely. They must be willing to share. In this way, they will store up true riches for themselves. It will provide a firm basis for the next life. Then they will take hold of the life that really is life.
Timothy, guard what God has trusted you with. Turn away from godless chatter. Stay away from opposing ideas that are falsely called knowledge. Some people believe them. By doing that they have turned away from the faith. May God’s grace be with you all.
“Take hold of the life that really is life.” That sentence has stuck with me. That sentence has stuck me in the ribs of my soul time and again. I can get caught up in this present life forgetting that it is passing away (always). I can forget that the true life God started in me is going to last long beyond this corrupted one. Groaning and grasping, I can selfishly keep trying to hang on to this temporary life and force it to be what it can never be – a hope-inspiring, soul-satisfying place of unbroken pleasure.
Or, as the Scripture instructs us, I can let go of this current life. By the grace of God, I can leverage this life for the Kingdom of Jesus. I can spend it doing the everyday good works He’s made opportunity for me to do in the middle of these on-going adversities so that someone else may glimpse the goodness of God that one Day will be fully revealed. I can enjoy this life for what it is: a short tour on an eternal journey.
However, the torrent of false hopes, godless chatter, and counterfeit knowledge we are exposed to daily must be rejected if we are going to appreciate this present life or be prepared for the next.
Last year, to encourage his church Pastor Andy Stanley shared this social media post by Beverly Geer. It surfaced again on one of my social media feeds. I am sharing it again, praying it may refresh our perspectives and hearten us for the days ahead:
Sometimes I just want it to stop. Talk of COVID, looting, brutality. I lose my way. I become convinced that this "new normal" is real life. Then I meet an 87-year-old who talks of living through polio, diphtheria, Vietnam protests and yet is still enchanted with life.
He seemed surprised when I said that 2020 must be especially challenging for him. "No," he said slowly, looking me straight in the eyes. "I learned a long time ago to not see the world through the printed headlines, I see the world through the people that surround me. I see the world with the realization that we love big. Therefore, I just choose to write my own headlines. "Husband loves wife today."
"Family drops everything to come to Grandma’s bedside."
He patted my hand. "Old man makes new friend."
His words collide with my worries, freeing them from the tether I had been holding tight. They float away. I am left with a renewed spirit. My headline now reads "Woman overwhelmed by the spirit of kindness and the reminder that our capacity to love is never-ending"
