SHORTLY BEFORE HIS DEATH, Mark Twain wrote: “Myriads of men are born; they labor and sweat and struggle…they squabble and scold and fight; they scramble for little mean advantages over each other; age creeps upon them; infirmities follow…those they love are taken from them, and the joy of life is turned to aching grief. [The release] comes at last—the only unpoisoned gift earth ever had for them—and they vanish from a world where they were of no consequence … a world which will lament them a day and forget them forever.”
How did such a gifted writer and humorist come to this end? The man who skillfully enabled us to see life through the eyes of a couple of curious and clever kids named Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer closes his earthly journey sad, miserable. No joy. No happy memories. How could this happen? In a way, his statement indicates there was a certain poverty in his spirit. In a better day, the happy stories covered it and we didn't notice.
I see a lot of this these days.
So I go to the Bible where stories tell how to enrich our spirits. The part of us that will always exist. We need not have a sad life that ends in depression. We weren't made for that!
One day, Jesus saw a man sitting by the side of the road. Everyone knew him; he’d always been blind and always sat in the same place. After a short conversation, the encounter turned to an interesting climax: Jesus made mud out of his own spit and dirt and rubbed it into the blind man’s eyes “so the power of God could be seen in him.” After washing it off, to everyone’s amazement, he could see.
The blind man returned home; but rather than welcoming him, people doubt his identity. When he finally convinced them of his identity, they dragged him off to the religious guys to figure it all out. Rather than rejoice in his healing, they questioned whether he was ever really blind at all.
At the end of the day, this guy was thrown out of the synagogue. A place where he should have been able to celebrate his healing and investigate the God who healed him was now off-limits. But Jesus wasn’t. Jesus tracked him down and offered a story about sheep and gates and shepherds, with a powerful summarizing statement: “My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.”
And there it is.
The difference between Jesus and everything this world has to offer. Including things like money or fame. The difference between Jesus and everyone else. Certainly the difference between what Jesus offers and what religious people offer. Jesus stands in front of each of us with life… life in all its fullness. The Greek word translated “abundant” or “fullness” literally means “more than is needed, useful, or expected; surplus; excessive.”
And that brings to my curious mind a question! What if the trying events that confront us today are actually here to help us see?
I have observed people and events during the COVID19 pandemic that I never imagined. Mostly sad. And the news doesn't seem to be getting better. If we look only at what is going on around us, we might relate to Mr. Twain’s sentiments. But I hope if you’re reading this you process life through a different filter. Not religion. Not anything else but Jesus.
Take time to study (or at least READ) the Bible prayerfully on your own. I see an urgent need to know the Word. There are many who have a hunch about what it says, who know what the preacher said it says, who are impressed with what their latest devotional book said it says, and now have chosen a television depiction of the life of Christ to imagine what is says.
There is nothing inherently bad in any of these things. It's just that so few know what's actually in the Bible. Only the Word of God has the power to change us from the inside out. If we want what the Word can give, there is but one place to go. The message is surprisingly clear, and the Master will open our eyes again and again if we will but wash away whatever clouds our vision and let the good stuff inside us, like this:
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)
©️ Copyright 2021 MyPericope.com
Comentarios