Growth

Locked In

We’re awfully protective of our stuff. We have alarms and locks to make sure that no one can get what’s not rightfully theirs. We set up security systems to try and catch anyone who tries to outsmart these security measures. One of the first words that most kids learn is “mine.”

It’s not unusual then, that for the Christian, they may wonder if the joy that Christ gives them can also be stolen away. Circumstances and challenges threaten to take the peace we have in Him and replace it with worry and anxiousness. Will our confidence in Christ remain regardless of what this world throws at us?

What the Christian must remember is that our joy and peace isn’t from this world, and so the world has no ability to strip it from us. As the Newboys sing in their song Joy [affiliate link]- “The world don’t give it and the world can’t take it away.” Our assurance in Christ is a gift from Him; therefore the world has no power over it. As one of my friend would say “It’s locked in” -regardless of what happens we can rest assured that  He will continue to provide the peace that we need.

This means we need not fear any robbery of that which really matters – our joy and confidence in Christ. And if we have no need to fear the loss of what matters, we have no need to fear the loss of anything else.

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Purpose

Always Relevant

Working with college students, it’s a struggle to stay relevant. After all, they use words that I’ve never heard of. They refer to bands whose names aren’t even familiar. They’re pop culture references are completely different than mine.

Yet even in this struggle to stay current, there is one way that we can all stay relevant. As Simone Weil said “To be always relevant, you have to say things which are eternal.” In other words, in order to be relevant, you have to say things which transcend this present time. You have to focus on the things that are always true, in order to never be out-of-touch. And what we know is always true is the One who is Truth. What we know is always prescient, is the Person who never changes. We know that when we focus on Him who was before the creation of the world, and Who will be long after it is gone, we are focused on that which remains current even when time is no more.

And so the question becomes, are we always relevant? Do we spend our time talking about the things that will matter in the next life, or are we focused on the things that only matter in this? Are we busy doing those things that will build up treasures in Heaven, or are we amassing a fortune that will only exist on Earth? Are we consumed with building relationships that will last for eternity by sharing the Gospel with those who don’t know, or is our aim to only pursue those relationships that will benefit us while we still reside here? If we are focused on what is considered to be relevant in this life, it’s almost a certainty that it won’t be relevant in the next. And if it’s not relevant there, than it’s not worthy of our attention here.

May we focus on staying relevant, not for now, but for eternity.

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