Category: 2 Corinthians

  • River Rescue – thoughts on the gospel

    Search and Rescue team doing river rescue

    The news headline read “Missing Fisherman Found After Six  Days.” 

    The story went on to tell of a fisherman who had fallen into a deep ravine, broken his arm and his legs, and survived on insects and water until another hiker heard his cries for help.

    “I made some big mistakes,” he told the reporters. “First off, I did not tell anyone where I was going or when I would be back. That meant no one knew that I was missing or where to even begin looking for me if they did.”

    “The other big mistake was trying to get down to the river, where I did. I knew the ravine walls were steep, but the fishing looked so good down there that I just had to try. I hadn’t gone down more than about ten feet from the top when I knew I was in trouble, but there was no way to get back up.”

    “I lost my balance and fell. I bounced off a couple of big trees and some rocks. The next thing I knew I was coming to down by the river’s edge. After a few days, I was starting to give up hope, but then I heard someone singing up top and called for help. Thank God he heard me and went for the rescue people.”

    The fisherman was lucky. He got out of the mess alive, but he will carry the scars all the days of his life.

    We are not all that different. The temptation of sin draws us into places we know we should not be, and suddenly we find ourselves unable (or unwilling) to turn back and plummet down until we hit bottom. 

    We hurt ourselves and others along the way, leaving physical, emotional, and spiritual scars in our wake. Broken marriages, ruined businesses, addictions, and other devastating consequences of our poor choices haunt us.

    When we accept Christ, we are forgiven and become new creations.

    Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

    Sometimes, even though we are made new, we carry the scars of the old life. We may have been forgiven the eternal consequences of our sin, but that does not give us an automatic “Get out of jail free” card for this life.

    Even after we become believers, we can still fall prey to temptation and make poor choices. God will rescue us, but there may be fresh and permanent scars to remind us of our folly or to warn others against making the same mistake.

    Until next time, when you hear temptation calling, walk away. The bottom can be a long way down, and the landing can be very painful.

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

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  • A Fish Tail – Lessons in Humility

    I stared off to the west at an unusually shaped cloud. It looked  just like a giant fish tail. It was as if a big fish was chasing the sun over the horizon.

    I had read Jonah recently, and that story came immediately to mind. When we think of biblical characters we want to be like, Jonah never comes to mind. He does not fare well in the biblical account. He ran from God at the beginning of the story, finally obeys, and ends up pouting because God didn’t do what he wanted.

    I thought about the places where our hearts were more like Jonah than like Christ—far more places than we like to admit. When I say our and we here, I include myself. Sometimes my heart is far more like Jonah than Jesus.

    One of the wonderful things about being a Christian, though, is that we are works in process. We are not yet perfect. Nor do we have to be.

    For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

    And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-11

    Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

    That means we can lighten up on ourselves a bit. I am not advocating that we keep our worldly ways, far from it. I am simply suggesting that we lighten up a bit on unneeded guilt. We do need to repent of our sins. We do need to let the Holy Spirit transform us from the inside out. Many changes need to be made in all of us.

    We simply need to accept that it is a process and we are not going to get there all at once. When we are confronted with sin in our lives, we need to take it to God. We need to work with Him to remove it. We do not need to carry the weight of it around our neck.

    True humility is not walking around with the chains of bondage around our neck, clanking like Jacob Marley and moaning about what worms we are. It is about accepting that we are flawed and truly giving those things to Jesus to change. 

    True humility is recognizing that while we are less than perfect, the one who dwells in us is perfect. It is not about being proud of how good we think we are. It is about recognizing that the goodness in us is a gift from Him.

    Take note of your faults. Give them to Christ and move forward. You cannot change the past, but Christ can change your present and your future.

    Until next time, give Him the room to work and change you.

    Kevin

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