(…continued) We live our whole lives in a life and death situation, every minute of every day we live in what the Bible calls ‘the valley of the shadow of death.’ That should change our perspective on the value of everything: what we spend our money on, what we pay attention to, and to what we devote our time and energy. In an instant all can be taken away; or I should say, as we well know, in some future instant all will be taken away. But the Apostle John tells us that he saw in his message from across the ages, that even though all will be taken away, all will then be restored, and what will be made new will be better than anything we have ever known before. This is a message worth paying attention to, and it is to be found only in Jesus Christ. There is no other offer on the table. This is a message worth believing in, and trusting in, and honoring and obeying. For the time will come when it will not matter if Vikings win a Super Bowl, or if the stock market is up or down, or if yet another celebrity marriage is rocked by scandal, or if the Democrats or the Republicans are in charge. What will matter is that we heard and believed in God’s gift of eternal life, ours by faith in Jesus Christ.
Pay attention to these messages from the Bible. For in that Word of God is offered your only chance to ever get off this dangerous little island we call our world, alive.
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Deuteronomy 32:47a — They are not just idle words for you— they are your life.
Romans 6:23 — For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Revelation 21:1…3-5 — Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” … and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
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Let not thy Word, O Lord, become a judgment upon us, that we hear it and do it not, that we know it and love it not, that we believe it and obey it not: O Thou, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, world without end. Amen.
Grant to us, O Lord, to know that which is worth knowing, to love that which is worth loving, to praise that which pleases you most, to esteem that which is most precious to you, and to dislike whatsoever is evil in your eyes. Grant us true judgement to distinguish that which differs from your will for us, and above all to search out and do what is well pleasing to you, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
–Thomas a Kempis (1380?-1471)
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God of mercy, amid all the changing words of our generation, speak your eternal Word that does not change. As we hear your Word, fill us with your Spirit. Soften our hearts that we may delight in your presence. Sharpen our minds that we may discern your truth. Shape our wills that we may desire your ways. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Gracious God, we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from you. Make us hungry for this, your Word, that it may nourish us today in the ways of eternal life. Through Christ Jesus, the bread of heaven. Amen. (based on Matthew 4:4 and Deuteronomy 8:3)
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