Colossians 3:1-2
So if you’re serious about living
this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things
over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground,
absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to
what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things
from his perspective.
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
Greg and I have been watching
a special series on CNN called “The Seventies.” We are finding these
hour-long looks at the past especially interesting because this was “our
era.” Several BIG things happened to us in the 1970s…and this “trip
down Memory Lane” has been good for us. We have been reminded of happy
times…but our memories have also been jogged about several events that
we had put out of our thoughts – if not altogether forgotten. In
particular, we watched a segment recently that noted serial killers like
the Hillside Strangler and Ted Bundy - and the cult activities of
Charles Manson and Jim Jones.
We get so caught up in what is
happening in our world today – and it IS tragic, in many instances. But
we forget that these things are not new – or necessarily worse. The
terrible shootings and acts of violence occurring today had a
counterpart in prior decades. We’ve had plenty to hang our heads
about. I remember being a new bride in 1975 when Saigon fell…and
wondering what lay ahead for all of us…and my mother tells of rocking me
as an infant during the Cuban Missile Crisis and worrying about the
same things.
So what does this have to do with these verses in
Colossians 3? I believe we have a choice…particularly as Christians.
We can hang our heads and talk “gloom and doom.” We can wring our hands
and worry about what the world is coming to. Or we can lift our heads,
stand up straight and tall, and say, “I serve a God who is fully in
control, and I trust Him to make things right.” We can live - and love
others - in a way that fosters this concept. When others ask us how we
are, we can genuinely answer, “I am well” – regardless of what is
happening in our lives.
“But that’s dishonest!” you may say.
And I would have to respectfully disagree. Because if we truly believe
in God’s promises…if we are confident that Jesus is who He says He
is…that He died for our sins and prepares an Eternal home for us in
Heaven…then we truly are well. There may be troubles at every
turn…we may be sick or injured, hurting from grief or disappointment,
struggling to pay bills and worried about the troubled person who may
sit next to us in a movie theater with a gun or come after us because we
don’t agree with his/her views – on anything!
But we serve a God
who is bigger than ALL of this…and He will never let us down. So stand
tall, lift your chin, put on a smile, and BE WELL! Speak positively,
and let others know that you serve a God who is in complete control…and
that they can, too! Recognize that there is nothing new under the
sun…and what God did for previous generations, He will do for us, also.
We
serve an awesome God who totally has our back every minute of the day.
It’s time for us to stand up and act like we believe it!
©2015 Debbie Robus
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