So Great a Salvation
A couple things that I experienced last night reminded me of the devastation of sin and why we so desperately need a Savior.
A friend told me of a half-way house he knows of where so many of the residents are drifting back into alcohol abuse. Even those who were considered models of recovery have gone back to their addictions. Sin is having a heyday there.
Then I watched a show with Susan last night that we've been enjoying the past few weeks, "Friday Night Lights." It's very well written and especially interesting to us because it's all about West Texas football. However, the disappointing part is when they show high school students sleeping with each other. Susan and I both said, "Don't they realize the consequences of their behavior?" It was interesting that after both of the unmarried couples had sex together, the women felt very let down in the relationship. Going against God's ways will eventually leave us leaves us empty and in some kind of pain.
This morning as I read the laments of Jeremiah over his beloved city, Jerusalem, I saw another vivid picture of the destructiveness of sin:
The people who once ate only the richest foods now beg in the streets for anything they can get...Our princes were once glowing with health...But now their faces are blacker than soot.
-- Lam. 4:5a, 7a, 8a
All these experiences the last 14 hours or so reminded me of how much we need Jesus. We need the blood to cover our guilt. We need His Spirit to empower us to live in holy ways and avoid sin. Being in his word is so vital in keeping our eyes fixed on Him and not drifting back into the world. Calling upon His Name is so essential in resisting that roaring lion who is seeking to devour us.
As I read this passage in Hebrews after reading the sad words of Lamentations, I received a new hope:
he suffered death for us. Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone in all the world...Through the suffering of Jesus, God made him a perfect leader, one fit to bring them into their salvation. -- Heb. 2:9a, 10b
It may sound cliche, but the world desperately needs Jesus. I need Jesus. I thank God for Jesus. And today I want to once more make Him famous with every person I encounter today, pointing them to the Only One who can redeem our souls and give us a life that is like no other.
Jim
posted by Jim Clark @ 8:09 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Jim,
What a powerful message in your entry today! So powerful, I'd ask permission of you to quote part of it on another friend's blog. He is speaking to this also today and you have so beautifully expressed the core of our hope - what keeps us out of depressive pits of woe.
Bless you, dear brother in Him, bless you!
btw-I've been praying for the brother(s) you speak of today. May they look UP - may the too be able to praise Him in the midst of their concerns, turning them over to the only One that really can do anything about them.
How interesting, Brad and I sat down to watch Friday Night Lights for the first time last night too. (Part of it was filmed in Austin.) However, we turned it off for the same reason.
Thank you for the reminder that we have all fallen so short of the glory of God. Isn't it an awesome turn--the more we realize our depravity the more we apprecate Jesus, and the more in love with Jesus we fall, the more we realize our depravity.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Thank you, Jim
Thank you, Kathy and Heather. Yes, how desperately we need Jesus. And thanks, Kathy, for praying for my discouraged friend. He came by again this morning for prayer concerning his job search. What was so sweet about today's visit is that he asked how I was doing and then led the most powerful prayer. We both sensed the deep love of Christ right there in the hallway of the Service Center as he prayed. Hallelujah.
Aside for ya'
I too watch Friday Night Lights. Over the years I've developed a mental and automatic shut down when such things occur in a show I'm watching. When I shut down the mind, I also get up, go into another room and come back in about 45 seconds. TV doesn't really hold a thought much longer than that. LOL
This has been a primer for me of West Texas high school football mania. It really is a unique part of the culture and certainly not as manic in SoCA for instance. So I'm learning about the West Texas culture. :) Plus the lead actor is among my favorites. ;)
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