Worship Devotional CXIII

Mar 12

Originally posted to the Facebook group on 3/12/2022.

Be Thou My Vision — Eternal Gain For Worldly Loss

Worship Devotional for 3/13/22

~ St. Patrick's Day ~

Jeremiah 9:23-24:

"This is what the Lord says: The wise man must not boast in his wisdom; the strong man must not boast in his strength; the wealthy man must not boast in his wealth. But the one who boasts should boast in this, that he understands and knows Me — that I am the Lord, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things. This is the Lord's declaration."

As we go through our lives, we are trying to find our way, to discover who we are and what our purpose is here in this world, to fit in somewhere, and to accomplish something of significance. We seek the satisfaction of our deep inner longings, and relief from the hardships of this life, looking for something to ultimately fulfill our existence and give meaning to our lives. Broken by sin and prone to the deception of the enemy, we look for this in the things of the world, trying to find what we are ultimately searching for in ourselves or in things that we create, whether it be our jobs, accomplishments, ideals, relationships, possessions, riches, knowledge, or anything else in the world that consumes our attention and devotion. But none of these things can really satisfy! None of these things leave us fulfilled; instead, we feel empty at the end of our pursuit of them, and are constantly wanting more during the pursuit because it's never enough. And yet the prevailing message of the culture around us is to keep working and fighting and chasing after these things which never satisfy, to keep storing up treasures on earth, to keep looking to worldly wealth as if gaining more of it is a worthy ultimate goal. Listen to what the psalmist wrote in Psalm 49:

"Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who inhabit the world, both low and high, rich and poor together. My mouth speaks wisdom; my heart's meditation brings understanding. I turn my ear to a proverb; I explain my riddle with a lyre.
Why should I fear in times of trouble? The iniquity of my foes surrounds me. They trust in their wealth and boast of their abundant riches. Yet these cannot redeem a person or pay his ransom to God — since the price of redeeming him is too costly, one should forever stop trying — so that he may live forever and not see the Pit.
For one can see that wise men die; foolish and stupid men also pass away. Then they leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their eternal homes, their homes from generation to generation, though they have named estates after themselves. But despite his assets, man will not last; he is like the animals that perish.
This is the way of those who are arrogant, and of their followers, who approve of their words. Selah
Like sheep they are headed for Sheol; Death will shepherd them. The upright will rule over them in the morning, and their form will waste away in Sheol, far from their lofty abode. But God will redeem my life from the power of Sheol, for He will take me. Selah
Do not be afraid when a man gets rich, when the wealth of his house increases. For when he dies, he will take nothing at all; his wealth will not follow him down. Though he praises himself during his lifetime — and people praise you when you do well for yourself — he will go to the generation of his fathers; they will never see the light. A man with valuable possessions but without understanding is like the animals that perish."

Worldly wealth is not what we really need. What we really need is rescue from death. We deserve to die because of our sins. Nothing we do or store up for ourselves in this life can change that. We cannot save ourselves! Our works could never atone for the guilt of our sin, no matter how much good we think we've done. Death has rendered everything futile and worthless, and we deserve it.

But God loved us with a love that is far greater even than death! The love of God reaches to all peoples of every nation and tribe and tongue! In His love for His creation, though we have all like sheep gone astray, God sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem us! He took our sin upon Himself and bore in His body the punishment of death that we deserve, though He had done no wrong. Now we who believe in Him and have put our faith and trust in His name, because He died and then rose again from the grave, are redeemed from the broken and empty ways of the world! We are now citizens of an eternal kingdom, a new creation in Christ, those who have been reconciled to our heavenly Father and adopted into His eternal family as His own sons and daughters to receive an eternal inheritance in Him! Our lives now have a meaning and purpose that is real and true. We now possess a treasure that will never fade away. We who were once worthless in our sin, unworthy of life, have now been made worthy by the grace and love of the Most High God. Now there is nothing in this world that can even compare to the riches and glory we have in Christ. Our purpose, our worth, our reason for living, is all in Christ. Christ is sufficient for us. May He Himself be the very vision of our lives, His Spirit guiding us into all truth and strengthening us and working in us to do God's will while we are here for the short duration of our lives on this earth, before we go home to His holy presence in eternity. Because of God's Spirit living in us and His grace on our lives, the challenging words of Jesus in Matthew 16:24-27 are a joy and not burden for us to obey by faith:

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it. What will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done.'"

Those who have tasted and seen that the love of God is indeed better than life itself and that nothing else in this world can satisfy our hearts know that we are to live completely for the glory of God. They gladly give their lives for the kingdom of God, because they know that they have an everlasting reward that death cannot touch. May we also have the same resolve, sharing in the joy of our Lord as we give ourselves — whether in life or in death — to the service of Christ and His everlasting kingdom. Our work as God's church on this earth is that the whole world may know that true satisfaction and fulfillment and meaning are only found in Christ, that only He can redeem us from our depravity and hopelessness, and that only He is worthy of praise and glory. As we remember St. Patrick this week and how God used Him to bring the message of the gospel of salvation to the nation of Ireland, resulting in many people redeemed and blessed and sent out to continue to spread the blessing of Christ, let's remember that the same Lord who called Patrick to give his life for the gospel is also calling each one of us to surrender our lives completely to Him and to live every minute of every day for His glory. He alone is worthy of our praise, for He satisfies our souls! However different our specific ways of serving Christ may look, may everything we say and do work together for the glory of the one true and living God, that He may be known throughout the earth, and that all the nations would be blessed by His truth and all-satisfying love!

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