Better Times

Posted on by korgrocker

“Many people say, “Who will show us better times?” Let your face smile on us, Lord. You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine. In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.”
Psalm 4:6-8 NLT

Human beings always want more. Materialistic demands dominate many people’s lives, and they take on more debt to get a better house or car, clothes or some nice but non-essential trinket. Social-scale-climbing drives some people to extraordinary lengths to tick the necessary boxes. And then at the other end of the scale there are those who have very little. Single mums in sub-standard accommodation. An old lady in a cold and draughty house that is too large for her, with heating bills unaffordable on a state pension. A benefits-funded family blighted by sickness and unable to work, with children clamouring for all the nice things their peers enjoy. But whether they are “have’s” or “have-not’s”, they all look for “better times”.

At the time David wrote this Psalm, the economy was largely based on farming, a subsistence existence prone to natural disasters. And in hard times, the cry “Who will show us better times” would dominate their world. 

David wrote that there is a better way. Focussing on the immediate issues of life, envying those around them who seemingly had a better, well-supplied existence, with “abundant harvests of grain and new wine”, was perhaps not the way to achieve a satisfied state of living. Instead of looking to the Lord for the source of their peace and well-being, they laid awake at night worrying about where the next meal would come from. And David put his finger on the issue that so many, both in his culture, and today, stumble over. We must indeed look to God to supply our needs, giving us peaceful nights’ sleeps, and keeping us safe. 

Jesus taught us, as recorded in Matthew 6:25-27, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?”. He went on to say, “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:31-33). 

Are we pilgrims looking for “better times”? We need look no further than God Himself. In Him we will find times that are the best.

Dear Father God. You provide for Your children every day, and we look to You for all we need, emotionally, spiritually and physically. Thank You. Amen.

Sin Dead

Posted on by korgrocker

“Later Jesus said to them again, “I am going away. You will search for me but will die in your sin. You cannot come where I am going.” The people asked, “Is he planning to commit suicide? What does he mean, ‘You cannot come where I am going’?” Jesus continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You belong to this world; I do not. That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I Am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.””
John 8:21-24 NLT

At the start of these verses today, what Jesus said seems to be a bit of a contradiction. After all the Prophet Jeremiah wrote, ”If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me” (Jeremiah 29:13) and the people would have known that. But Jesus went on to describe what He meant. Very clearly, He established the link between sin and death, and there was only one remedy – believing that He was who He claimed to be, the “I Am”. 

The Jewish people were puzzled by Jesus’ statement, “You cannot come where I am going”, even asking if He was going to commit suicide. But Jesus explained that they belonged to the world, while He had come down from Heaven. He implied that it was possible to transition from the world to Heaven, from a worldly life to spiritual life, by believing in Him. But until they did believe in Him, they would “die in [their] sins”. Of course, He was referring to spiritual death, the consequences of which would be separation from God for all eternity. 

In the people’s favour, at least they took the time to listen to Jesus, although most of them rejected Him. But there were a few people who did believe in Him, and they swelled the ranks of the early disciples. Today, not many people take the time to listen to the words of Jesus, as street preachers find. His gracious words are foreign to most, too busy going about their business, and neglecting their souls. But there will come a day when they do hear the words of Jesus, as they stand before His throne, words they will not want to hear. Far better to stop and listen and believe in the great “I AM” while there is still time.

Dear Father God. The clock is ticking, and the day when Your grace will cease will soon be with us. We pray for more opportunities to share Your love with those around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

“Spend Your Energy”

Posted on by korgrocker

“They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.””
John 6:25-27 NLT

The “crowd” finally caught up with Jesus on the “other side of the lake”. This would have been in the region around Capernaum, on the west side of the Sea of Galilee. Of course, by this time, numbers would have been much reduced because there wouldn’t have been enough boats to transport the five thousand men and their families across the lake, but we read in John 6:24 that they were “looking for Him”. But having found Him, the people were perplexed, because they couldn’t understand how He had got there so quickly. They knew that He wasn’t in the boat with the disciples, and there were no other boats available. But Jesus wasn’t one for a cosy chat, and He cut right across all the practical issues and questions to deliver a message about eternal life.

When He had been found by the people, Jesus immediately knew what they were after – more free food. Jesus used the phrase “I tell you the truth” to precede His analysis of the situation. This was a phrase He often used, and is worth taking note of as we read the Gospels and the words of Jesus. The old King James Version uses the phrase “verily, verily …”, something I’m sure we all remember. Jesus told His listeners, “you want to be with me because I fed you”. An understandable and accurate conclusion, but that wasn’t why He had come to Planet Earth. He had come to give the people eternal life. Something of much more value. 

Jesus told His listeners something that they probably weren’t so keen on. “Spend your energy seeking … eternal life”. To a people toiling to make a living from subsistence farming, such a message would have not gone down well. Because of the Fall, farming the ground was hard work. We read what God said to Adam in Genesis 3:17-18, “And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains”. The curse was still on the ground when Jesus came to Palestine, and producing sufficient food to feed a family all year round wasn’t easy. Additionally, in years of famine, perhaps caused by unfavourable weather patterns, people starved. 

But the question for us pilgrims today is about where we spend our energy. I’m sure we could all produce a long list of pastimes that people follow, and none of them involve seeking eternal life. Of course, God knows that we need to earn a living. But regardless of where the source of what we need for our natural lives is, Jesus’ message is the same today as it was two thousand or so years ago. “Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you”. Meditating on just this phrase will open a door to a wealth of possibilities, but the overriding question must be, “Is what I am doing of benefit to God’s Kingdom or the worldly kingdom around us”. Perhaps our priorities should follow a pattern of God, and our relationship with Him, first. Then our employment to provide for our physical needs, and the needs of our families. Next, devoting our spare time and energy in doing works to further God’s Kingdom, and, lastly, if we have any time left, spending it on recharging our own batteries. But we each must do what Jesus told His Jewish listeners on the Galilee shore, “[seek] the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you”.  How we do that can only be determined in prayer and our faith and relationship in and with God.

Dear God. Jesus came to show us the way to You. His message of life and hope still reverberates around the world today. Please open our ears to hear You more. In Jesus’ name. Amen.