Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 11 NIV, Ch 12-13 NLV

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Thoughts

In chapter, verse 5, Paul says, “Put yourselves through a test. See if you belong to Christ.” NLV

“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you– unless indeed you fail the test?” NASB

Beloved, given the turmoil in our nation as I write this, and given that none of us can say with certainty what the outcome of the election will be, this is a good time, I believe, to focus on what we truly believe, right down to our core. 

Where is your faith? In what do you put your hope? Will government save you? Is your hope in one candidate or another? One political party or another? What eternal significance is there in who wins an election? 

Listen. No matter which side ultimately ends up winning this election, and lest you think that the media declaring a winner makes it official, it doesn’t. This year, it looks like the courts will decide, based on the outcome of investigations of ballot tampering. But no matter the victor, if I test myself, and find that I am in the faith (as Paul put it), my answers to the questions I posed a few seconds ago are easy.

Where is your faith? In Jesus

In what do you put your hope? God’s sovereignty  

Will government save you? Never

Is your hope in one candidate or another? My hope is in Christ alone

One political party or another? Neither

What eternal significance is there in who wins an election? None

One thing I have learned in my sixty-six years, beloved, is that the only thing we can count on here on earth is change. Nothing remains the same. Back in the day, I used to attend Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, when Chuck Smith was the pastor. I remember him telling the story about how he had recently bought a brand new car. I think he said it was the very first car NEW that he had ever bought. And one day, he came out of a store to find that someone had dinged his brand new car as it sat in the parking lot. And he was so upset. Someone had hit his brand new car with their door, and now his paint was chipped. And do you know what happened? His young son said, “It’s all gonna burn, dad.”

And so it is. Jesus said, in Matthew and in Luke, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

Those of us who belong to Jesus are just travelers here. This is not our home. We are citizens of the kingdom of God. As we look at the example of Jesus, when He lived on earth, the Jews were ruled by Rome. They have very few freedoms, and the people were looking for a messiah who would crush Rome and set them free. To be sure, this was a worthy desire on their part, but His call was to do the will of the Father, which was to live a perfect life, die on the cross for my sin and yours, and rise again on the third day, showing forever that He is who He said He is. 

Our time on earth is limited, beloved. Should we devote our time on the temporary things of this world, or on the eternal? Should I serve the media masters who try to lead the people around by the nose with whatever they put in the headlines, the evening news, or whatever’s trending online? No. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.