What Did Jesus Do?
Jesus Pioneered And Perfected Hope-Filled Faith
Which Is The Only Path To REAL And
Lasting Life
“Let us run with endurance the
race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus, the pioneer and
perfecter of our faith,”
Hebrews
12:1-2
“Life could be a dream,” so
the song says (“Sh-Boom” by the
Crew-cuts c.1954). I would guess there
are no few people who have wished, during hard times, that their life was a
dream which they could wake up from. A
good many others spend considerable time dreaming of what they’d like or hope
their life to be. Believers do not have
to live in, or wish for, a dream world because faith is about assured hope (Hebrews 11:1), as opposed
to wishing-on-a-star/one-in-a-gazillion
lottery ticket hope.
Do you think that Jesus ran his
race, enduring the cross and despising the shame, based on a dream or a wish? He ran by faith, faith built on hope, assured hope in the steadfast love and
promises of his Father. These promises,
set before the Lord, produced a joy that fueled his faith so that he could
endure the hostility of the world. The
same faith, the faith which Jesus founded and perfected, enables us to run and complete the marathon race
of life, sustained every step of the way by hope, certain hope, assured hope, hope built on a promise
rather than a dream or wish.
Here’s the thing, people today are starved for reality. Why do you think so-called “Reality
Television” is so popular? The irony is,
everyone of these “reality” shows is staged!
Cameras don’t just happen to be there to capture what’s going on
spontaneously. And there’s a whole lot
of editing going on after the filming is finished. But the truth is life, REAL life, is only to be found in and through
Jesus. Dreaming and wishing leads
nowhere; believing in the Gospel of
Jesus Christ will bring us “to Mount Zion and
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,”
to “receive a kingdom that cannot be
shaken” (Hebrews 12:22, 28). That’s a hope we can be sure of!
Christ IS All!
Jim
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
No comments:
Post a Comment