Luke 9
Somewhere
along the line the idea was spread that when a person becomes a Christian their
troubles go away. Prosperity-gospel
preachers speak of going from victory to victory implying there was never
difficulty or struggle for those who had “enough” faith. Sometimes people are absolutely certain that
they are wrong to feel down, insufficient, or even broken. It is as if we feel that, having come to
faith, we should be transported from the world directly to heaven, and that’s
just not how life works.
The
Christian faith deals with reality. We
are accused of having a pie-in-the-sky view of life, because we look forward to
when Jesus will return and set all things right, but we view this world with a
clear sobriety that says, “All is not as it should be. We are not yet home. And while much is good, and we are blessed,
we are in the midst of a struggle; a struggle to hold on to Jesus and to draw
others to Him.”
Jesus
struggled. He dealt with enemies like
Herod. He had frustrations: crowds rarely left Him alone, His disciples
regularly did not understand Him, and He knew He was headed to the cross. To be sure, there were high points – the
Transfiguration, for instance – but Jesus’ life was far from roses and
afternoon tea.
The
gift of the gospel is salvation, free and without cost to us. Faith is given, but its exercise requires
effort – yes, empowered by the Holy Spirit, but effort nonetheless! Jesus calls us to take up our cross and
follow Him, not to stroll in the garden.
That day will come, thanks be to God, but we’re not there yet.
It
is absolutely okay to look ahead to your departure when you will go home to be
with Jesus, even as Jesus discussed His departure, that is His death, with
Moses and Elijah. Because of Jesus’
departure, ours is certain to be a happy homecoming!
Lord,
life can be hard. Thank you for
experiencing that, and never leaving or forsaking me. Help me follow you in all my life. Amen.
Comments