The Destructive Few

This past weekend leaders of the most powerful countries in the world met in Toronto to talk about how to make things better for the people of their countries and the people of the world.  Some have great motives, others may have no motive other than having their citizens re-elect them to power, but they all want to see their citizens do well and their countries prosper.  The whole thing cost a huge amount of money, over a billion dollars for Canada to host the conference.  Why so much?  Security.  There are always protesters at these events.  Most are peaceful, wanting the world to know about their particular cause.  Others, a tiny few, come only to cause mayhem, to damage and destroy.  They don’t really have any other agenda and they spoil it for all the others who peacefully let their voices be heard.  These violent few hurt others, that’s their only real goal.  The cost to protect people and property from these few is enormous.  At the end of it all the media always try and make the police look like villains.  The police either don’t do enough, or are too violent.  The police are doing their job, responding to violent young men and women who want to commit wanton acts of destruction. I truly feel badly for the police.  They do an admirable job.

The cost of protecting people against the destructive acts of a few is always high.  A few criminals in society cost so much to control and incarcerate.  But think further.  Think about the bad things that everyone does against God and the good He wants to do.  Think about what that costs to rectify.  God Himself took on the nature of a human being, came to earth as a baby, lived a perfect life and then was crucified and died as a sacrifice to make it possible for each of us to have a personal relationship with Him.  God gave Himself for us.  That is a high price to pay to reconcile us to God.  And the end result?  A few receive the offer of salvation and eternal life.  Most just decry God’s injustice because He won’t receive us except His way.   Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  God protects us from ourselves, our own destructive natures, but we have to do it His way. 

Nothing Stays the Same

We had an interesting weekend.  Saturday was sunny and warm.  Sunday started with sun, changed to rain, then the sun came back out, more rain and then a sunny evening.  What a mess.  It rained on the way to church, was sunny while we were inside, then rained all the way home.  The sun came out for an hour then another shower.  Then it cleared again.  I received an e-mail from a friend who was boating.  She and her husband had a nice, sunny run on the lake.  Friends who were on the water later in the day had rain and wind.  One sailor was so upset he said he wasn’t going out again unless the forecast was for days of sun.  He was cold and wet by the time he got back to the dock.  On Sunday the weather changed almost faster than you could change your clothing.  I hid indoors most of the day.

Sometimes life is just the same.  One moment everything is great, the next you are blind sided by something which comes out of nowhere.  You can't make any sense of it.  Like the weather, we can’t control all the things around us in life.  The recession we’re just coming out of hit many people hard, others weathered the storm with hardly a ripple.  We just don’t know what is coming tomorrow.  That’s why I am so glad that Jesus is my Saviour who will never leave me.  No matter what happens I can lean on Him.  I can pray and ask Him for help, for counsel, to just be beside me.  And I also have all my friends at church and in my Bible study group who are there for me as well.  I never have to face life alone.

Weather changes.  Life changes.  The one constant in my life is the presence of Jesus with me always.

Inconvenience

It’s been sunny today, and although I am working in my office I know it is sunny outside.  My office is bright and it makes the world seem happier, nicer, more beautiful.  We’ve had a couple weeks of rain and it does get a bit dreary, a bit tiring, even if the grass and flowers are happy.  I like to get outside and go for a walk in the evenings, but I don’t like getting wet so on rainy days I don’t go out.  Okay, I’m a wimp, but I prefer to be dry.

Isn’t it amazing how we like things to be nice, convenient, just right.  I want to be in shape, I want some exercise, but not if I’m going to get wet.  People, me included, just don’t like to be inconvenienced.  That’s one of the problems with our faith as Christians.  It sometimes inconveniences us.  To truly follow Jesus is a bold step which alters everything you do in life.  If it doesn’t alter everything, then there is a really good possibility you are not a Christian.  It’s that inconvenience that causes many people to reject Jesus and all that He offers us.

As a Christian I no longer direct my own life, my life is directed by Jesus.  I want to please Him, not myself.  I want people to see Him praised, not me.  I want others to come to know Jesus personally, just the way I do.  Yes, Jesus changed my life, but I am so glad that He did.  I am so glad that I can let Him be in charge.  My task is to just figure out what He wants and then do it, and in doing it I have joy. 

Being a Christian is sometimes a bit inconvenient, but I am so glad that I can be a bit inconvenienced for my Saviour.