What are you afraid of?
2019 was so ordinary. It had ups and downs, but mostly we got on with life. As Christmas was celebrated, we remembered the coming of the Messiah looking forward to another year.
There seemed nothing to seriously be afraid of. However, from November things changed in China and 2020 was set to be a year without parallel in modern history. People began dying from a virus we now know as CV19.
New words entered our vocabulary, Pan-demic being one. Pan as a prefix means “…the whole of…” and last used widely as the NAZIS tried to establish a Pan-Germanic Empire from Europe. It did not last and nor will CV19.
In March 2020 panic set in. None have been spared and we have seen the best and worst of world and local leaders including in the Churches.
What are we afraid of: Death and meeting our Lord or something else? In the 2019 flu season, were we afraid of catching it and even dying or did we just move on and trust God for what He had planned for us (believers or not) before the world began?
God has set a time to be born and die; nothing can change that. We need not fear other than falling into the hands of the Living God without Jesus. We must be careful but that was the case in 2019.
What are you afraid of?
Hebrew 10:31 “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
– Geoff Kyngdon
Living by hope
In Colossians 1:3-5 we see Paul outlining how faith, hope and love interrelate in the Christian life:
“We give thanks … since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven”
Did you notice that future hope is the driver of their faith and love?
We know what we hope for drives what we do today. Each month I put away some money into superannuation in the hope that I will have accumulated enough to help support myself and others in the future. This gives me confidence in what I do today because I have some security in the future.
But markets can crash and savings can be wiped away. Nothing is certain, except that which is held with God. What exactly then is the hope laid up in heaven, away from the turmoil of this world, which can give total confidence and security to us in this life?
God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Colossians 1:27
Christ and all the blessings we have in him are our heavenly hope, which nothing on earth can take away. He blesses us now, and has even greater things in store to come. From that certain hope we can live with faith in Christ and love for one another.
– Sam Pursell
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