Loved ones dying surrounded by strangers
Small business owners financially ruined
Surges in domestic violence
Elderly isolated
This is not how it is supposed to be.
Regardless of your politics, regardless of your religion.
Whether you saw a global pandemic coming,
or still don’t think it is as big as the media says it is.
When you look at the list of things going on today,
somewhere within you cries out, “This is not how it is supposed to be.”
In the short term, I don’t know what “supposed to be” looks like, and I definitely don’t have the answers for how we should proceed from here to get there.
But what if I told you that I know what the long term is, that it is infinitely good, and I know exactly how to get us there?
In a world of unknowns, one thing is for sure, you and I and everyone else will one day die. “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27)
Well, that doesn’t sound infinitely good, Sharon. Perhaps not, but before we get there, a crucial event will take place. God, (yes, your Creator, who exists as sovereign over the universe whether you regard him or not) will bring out books of your deeds and recall all that you have done in your life. If you have sinned even once, if you have broken a single law against His holy and perfect ways, you will receive eternal judgment. This is horrible and awful forever, but as a good judge upholds the law, it is also perfectly just and therefore good. But this God does not find any pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11). He loves his creation, and for those souls who are feeling their smallness in the face of a global pandemic, He sent his own Son, who was and is God, to become a man, live a perfect life, and take on eternal wrath on their behalf (which only he could do because he is God). Jesus did so because he so loved the Father’s people. And he urges you even now, to recognize with a humble heart your guilty condition before the perfect judge, and believe in the perfect sacrifice that was made on your behalf. God has made the way and he asks, why will you die? Why will you not believe this wonderful news and receive the gift of eternal life with Him?
You may not know him yet, but Jesus is better than all that the world can offer you. He is infinitely good, and heaven is in his presence. Eternal life is to know him and be with him. Are you happy with a check for $1000? Will more federal aid give you joy? How about a more socialist form of government ushered in by this crisis? Do you just want the government out of your personal life? Would you be at peace if you could live your life freely again? If your kids can return to public school? If you can see your family again?
Everything in this world is passing away. “As for man, his days are like grass, he blooms like a flower in the field” (Psalm 103:15). It might be a beautiful flower, one worth appreciating and living well, but it is a flower nonetheless that will be gone tomorrow. But what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? (Matthew 16:26). After this is all over, please don’t put the blinders back on and live each day without regard for eternity. There is infinite good awaiting you in heaven with God. My friend, believe.
