2 SAMUEL 22:47-49 -The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation, the God who gave me vengeance and brought down peoples under me, who brought me out from my enemies; you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from men of violence.
THEME OF THE DAY. HE IS REALLY ALIVE. Today’s scripture is simply loaded with blessings from our God. There are descriptions of who He is to His people – the personal God who is and the firm, never-wavering rock of our salvation. We also are blessed by seeing the actions of God toward us – He protects us from enemies and delivers us from dangers that rise up against us. But as great as these blessings are, something else trumps them all. In fact, it is the most important and relevant truth in the Christian life. Without this truth, we are deceived, frauds, and live without hope. This something else is the truth of the first three words of today’s scripture – The Lord lives. Remember what the Apostle Paul tells us if this isn’t true – And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:14-19). But it is true! Christ is alive. Our Lord lives. Now I know we know that and herein lies the danger – familiarity with truth. And if we are not careful, familiarity with truth will lead to a lack of awe of truth. We will simply, not with words, but with our living, say, “Yeah, I know the Lord lives” and it will only be truth acknowledged, not truth that daily transforms. So what may we do to ensure the familiar doesn’t become the dull and boring? Consider two things.
First because the Lord lives relationship is established. The most important truth in the Christian life is the proclamation by the angels on the day of Jesus’ resurrection – “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but risen” (Luke 24:5-6). Because the Lord lives relationship is established. Friends, we don’t pray to an ethic. Nor do we daily walk through life driven by moral conduct. We are to live in and walk with the living Lord Jesus. This truth drives the Christian to make life a daily cultivation of this living relationship He came to establish. Don’t lose the awe factor of Jesus being alive. Don’t let familiar truth become mere facts acknowledged and not a relationship enjoyed and deepened.
The next help in preventing spiritual indifference to the Lord being alive is to remind ourselves often of His Second Coming. He is coming back. Alive and personally. We will see Him face-to-face. Such truth should shape our daily lives of seeking Him now because we don’t know when we will have that face-to-face encounter. It might be today. Live with this awareness and watch how our relationship with Him is kept vibrant and alive.
A living Jesus is the foundation of our faith. Without it, we have nothing, but build on the foundation. Don’t let it simply be facts we believe. Let Him be truth lived out in daily relationship. That is why He came.
PRAYER: “Father, I praise You that I walk with and serve a living Lord – the rock solid hope for my today and tomorrow.”
QUOTE: “Don’t lose the wonder and awe that we walk with a living Lord. He is alive and as real as real may be.”