“But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers” (1 Peter 4:7).

What a sobering reminder of the brevity of this world and the necessity to be earnestly seeking God. I believe it is easy to coast through life and never seriously consider the importance of eternal things. Yet, at the end of the day, those things are all that matter.

We are told that the “end of all things is at hand.” It’s hard for us to sympathize with that statement. After all, it was written two-thousand years ago. It seems a terribly long time; and from our perspective it seems that “the end of all things” was not at hand. So we live our lives. We focus on the priorities of today. The “end of all things” seems a long way off.

The statement however, was written from the divine perspective. From God’s point of view, the world is finished. It is but a moment to its end; and everything within the world will be swept away forever. So God encourages us to “be serious and watchful in our prayers.”

To be serious in our prayers is to allow them to have a place of distinction and permanence in our lives. If I am serious about something, I will be diligent in its pursuit and earnest in its achievement. To be watchful is to be alert and anxious for the accomplishment of what we are seeking. In this case, we are expected to be anxious for God’s kingdom and looking for the return of the coming King.

This verse offers a perspective on life that we are not altogether familiar with. Yet it is also an invitation to faith. God seeks to expand the horizon of our faith. He wants that horizon to reach beyond this world and expand into the next. When our faith grows to such a degree that we are able to peer, however feebly, into that vast horizon of eternal life, we will suddenly see with brilliant clarity the futility, frailty and vanity of present things. We will understand that the “end of all things is at hand.”

The result of such faith is a radicalization of one’s life. Such a person begins to live as though they are a citizen of a world not yet seen – yet embracing with zeal and joy the honor and dignity of that kingdom. They begin to worship an invisible God as though they were visibly looking upon His glorious majesty. They express an unyielding devotion and love to a Savior they have never gazed upon; and because of their love, they are willing to die for the honor of His name.

Such has been the faith of many who have gone before us (see Hebrews chapter 11), and such is the faith that God invites you to enter today.

Do you have such faith? If not, “be serious and watchful in your prayers;” believing that God will not disappoint, but rather will lift you up until the horizon of your faith extends into all things eternal.

“But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:14).

I remember a time I was in a gym lifting weights. I was in Ft. Lewis, Washington, and enjoying my time in the army. At the time, I had not been lifting weights very long; as such I was struggling with a few measly pounds on the bench press. However, next to me were two other soldiers who were also benching. To my utter astonishment, they were lifting over five-hundred pounds! The bar seemed to bend under that weight, and the men gave a low guttural grunt as they slowly pushed the weight up from their chest.

I was thinking that if I had that weight on my chest I too would have been groaning – but it would have been the sound of my last breath coming out of my broken body! At the same time I was also encouraged. I realized that those two men didn’t get to that level overnight. They definitely spent years working up to that point. They were strong because of constant practice.

The writer of Hebrews is essentially making the same point about Christian maturity. Growing in Christ is something that takes intentional effort. Just as a person gains strength from constant use of their muscles, so too a Christian grows spiritually by constant use of their spiritual capabilities. Spiritual strength requires spiritual exercise.

The verse above says that “solid food” is for the mature. Solid food is the meat of Christianity but can only be obtained through “constant practice.” It is like the heavy weights of spirituality. One does not get to that level overnight, and certainly not by accident.

Rather, the ability to become a spiritually strong person who knows good from evil, and who can live a life of faith without compromising with the world, is developed over time with intentionality.

The reality is that God desires, and even demands that we grow in Christ. He wants you to be filled with the Spirit. He wants you to be living your life according to the Bible. He wants you to experience His power in your life. He wants you to trust Him with all things.

The truth is that, as Christians, we are going in one of two directions. We are either growing in Christ, or being drawn away from Christ (Luke 8:11-15). There is no neutral ground where we can be comfortable. The authentic Christian life is a constant uphill struggle against the world, the flesh, and the evil one. The moment we stop exercising our spiritual muscles is the moment one of the three forces of worldliness begins to take advantage of us.

I still go to the gym. I haven’t reached the five-hundred pound mark on the bench, and most likely never will; but I have come a long way since that day in Ft. Lewis. As a Christian I too have grown much over the last sixteen years. I have not arrived, to be sure, but I seek daily to exercise my spiritual muscles so that I can continue to grow in the things of God. If you know that your spiritual muscles are getting a little flabby, join me at the gym. I will most likely need a spotter the next time I’m on the bench.

As he walked down the street a business man was approached by a street vendor wearing a long overcoat. The street vendor stopped the business man, opened his coat and proceeded to remove fake Rolex watches from the coat’s many inside pockets. The business man, intrigued, looked over the watches, inquired as to the amount and was pleased to learn they cost only thirty dollars. With his purchase on his wrist, the business man walked away proudly sporting his “Rolex” watch.

It looked good, but there was one problem; it was a cheap fake. I once heard a preacher comment that the one real problem with Christianity was that it was too easy to fake. Like the watch it has all the glitter of the real thing, but lacks true authenticity.

Speaking with an unauthentic group of believers, Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness” (Matthew 23:27).

Authentic Christianity is difficult. Jesus likens it to a narrow road that is both hard to travel and unpopular (Matt 7:14). It requires the determined effort to live for another, whose ways are sweet but altogether unfamiliar (John 14:5). He requires absolute devotion to Him alone (Matt 10:37). He seeks to make you into something that is altogether different from what you have been (2 Cor 5:17). He requires you to die to your ambitions and earthy desires (1 John 2:15-16). And He seeks to eradicate everything from your life in which you once found both comfort and security (1 John 5:21). Finally, recognizing that He can accomplish none of these things while you are alive, He demands that you die (Luke 9:23).

And therein lies the rub. In Luke 9:23 Jesus said to them all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” This is what faith looks like… dying to self and living for another.

The authentic Christian however, has joyfully succumbed to this admonition of faith. He does so gladly because he knows that it is only in dying to self that he can begin to live through the power of Christ’s resurrected life (Phil 3:7-11)

The things that Jesus seeks to accomplish in our lives can never be accomplished while we are clinging to this life. Jesus taught that we cannot serve two masters; for we will hate one and love the other (Matt 6:24). If we believe in Him, let us also trust in Him and allow ourselves to die, so that He can live through us with the power of His eternal, indestructible, and holy life. Only in so doing can we know the joy, strength and hope of that eternal life He so earnestly seeks to give away.

“For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Romans 6:5).

“And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius … For the last will be first and the first last” (Matt 20:9,16).

Some people thrive in the morning. They wake up bubbly and ready to go. They usually wonder how anyone in their right mind can sleep past, say 6 am! By seven they have cut the grass, ran to the store, cooked pancakes, sausage and eggs and begun any chores that were needed to be done that day. Others, not so much; they are slow to rise in the morning. Like a 747, they need a long runway to get going in the morning.

I’m a not so much person. I need a long runway before me in the morning. When my alarm goes off, I’m usually somewhere between death and the comma state. I usually have to set my alarm a good hour before I have to get up. It takes me a good 45 minutes to even hear the confounded thing! It takes me another 30 minutes to even realize where I’m at. And people wonder why I drink so much coffee in the morning.

The Christian life can be like that sometimes. There are some people who jut take off running. Before they are a day old in Christ they have won people to the Lord, volunteered for every VBS, missions trip, and service community project the church can throw at them, and they still want more. Those are the early morning Christians! God bless ’em!

Then there are others who wake up to the Christian life much more slowly. It takes them a good while to warm up to everything. Coming into the church is a strange experience. They love the Lord, but are sometimes unsure of His people. They want to grow, but take longer to be comfortable in Sunday school and worship. They know the direction they want to go, but are not always certain on how to begin. That describes my first few years as a Christian!

The wonderful news of the Gospel is that Christ loves the slow to raise Christians as much as the early morning Christians. In fact, the bible says that God shows no partiality between people. Our Father takes delight in all of His children!

So whether you’re an early riser or still waking up, God seeks to bless you richly in Christ. Even if it’s late when you get to the table, He’ll keep the pancakes warm for you.

Life can be hard to understand sometimes. There are so many conflicting experiences we can have. We experience times of joy and times of sadness, times of happiness and times of sorrow. In 1 Peter 1:1-9 we are given a picture of life in microcosm. In a few brief sentences we are given the whole scope of life – but, as seen from heaven. A couple observations about life:

First, Life is Journey. Writing to the church, in verse two, Peter refers to them as strangers. The word in the original language also means pilgrim. He was referring to them as I believe God sees all of His children in this world. In this world we are strangers on a pilgrimage. Heaven is our true home (cf. 2 Cor 5:-10). So while we are here, we are on a journey.

It can be a hard journey, a joyous journey, a journey filled with confusion and adversity or with contentment and happiness. A lot is dependent upon what we experience in life. The things we cannot control, for instance, lead us in many ways; and more often than not, our ability to cope and overcome hardships with a positive attitude and joyful spirit and a heart filled with faith lead us as well. But no matter what we experience and how we face the challenges of the journey, scripture makes it very clear that life is just that, a journey.

It may be stating the obvious to say so, but it is important to understand that point; because if we understand life as a journey then we will not allow ourselves to become too settled. Continue reading →

I remember the first family funeral I had to deal with as a child. My grandmother, who I loved dearly, died when I just beginning high school. She was the first person I would usually see in the morning. When I was a child, she picked me up from school. She often made my dinner and took care of me. Her death was felt deeply.

I remember the first time I went to her graveside. It was a sad, lonely feeling. Cemeteries have such a finality to them. I can imagine what Mary Magdalene and the other women felt then they went to the tomb of Jesus in the early morning hours to prepare His body. There was no doubt a heaviness that weighed on them.

But when they got to the tomb it was not as they suspected. Instead of finding their beloved master dead, they were confronted by an angel who said, “He is not here, He is risen!” I think it would be hard to put ourselves in their shoes. Needless to say, no sweeter words were ever spoken! Continue reading →