Being alive, is an absolute great concept isn’t it. Living life is a dream come true, it does have its perks such as watching the beautiful sky with all the puffy clouds, breathing in the cool, clean air and just knowing you have another day to live and enjoy Gods great gift. Seeing family and friends you love and care about, and so much more. Now being dead isn’t something none of us like to think about isn’t it! It’s the end of something, the stop of something good or even the completed story of a book that isn’t quite finished in this life. What ever your thoughts are on beng alive or dead, there is something about these two things that can actually bring us closer to God.
There was a couple that I'm going to name John and Betty. They both had a tremendously successful careers that included nearly all the Fixin's one could have in life. John bought the home they lived in with cash from just his bonus's and betty was an interior designer that had all the latest fashions on the market in nearly every room of the house. They had two small dogs, a rather portioned sized yard with good privacy, two expensive cars that only those of the upper class could afford, and quite potentially their own mechanic.
Without a doubt, when you looked into their lives from the outside from just hearing the description, you probably would think they seem to be happy and positive life. Nothing was more further from the truth. They both had problems & miserable!
One of the undisclosed problem they had was they love to spend money on clothes. Not just any clothes, but clothes they traveled far distances to buy that had the great potential to be a jewel in their eyes, but essential to my story here, in eyes of other peoples.
As time went on, both John and betty developed common medical problems, and one of them was being overweight. As their lifestyle became a 'living' testimony to their character, they began to become obsessed with the idea of how they once where. What reminded them was their clothes which they no longer could fit it.
Now, these clothes weren't something miraculous; they were made of cotton, polyester, some nylon, and other common threads. It was, however, putting all the styles together to create a pattern that put them into a thought that "I once looked good in these clothes, and it was the best years of my life" type of attitude. Now I can't say whether John or betty was better or worse than one another when it came to their obsession, but what did happen was they contributed to each other's character by displaying who they where inside that reflected their outside that drove them to this point.
When we live for something that we tend to either give it all the effort we can mustard or just do enough work to get by. Either way, we can get to the destination we desire! But is the destination the goal, or is it the Journey? A quote from Arther Ashe stated, "Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome." My friends that is an excellent quote, I think.
One of a pervasive problem with the Journey we go through is 'Fear.' Fear of the unknown, fear of abandonment, fear of dying, fear of …. Well, you can fill in the blanks! The Journey is always present before us, isn't it? We wake up in the morning and go to bed at night, not knowing what will 'exactly' is going to happen next.
The University of Chicago put out an article claiming, "40 percent of Americans refuse medical treatment at the 'fear' of how much it would cost them." In this COVID-19 circumstance, it is reported that 1 in 7 Americans will not seek treatment for the same reason. Nearly 20 years ago, the American Psychological Associate done research and found people who neglected their heath due to some sort of phobias about dentists had developed significant health complications. These examples show us how some kind of discomfort can drive us away from something that can be potentially good. A dentist to repair a painful tooth, a medical procedure that could remove cancer, and so on.
In no way, my friends and I suggesting these are valid reasons NOT to be afraid, but let show you a few more examples of how 'fear' drove biblical prophets in the wrong direction. The prophet Jonah deliberately ignored Gods request to minister to a fallen city called Ninevah to ultimately save them. In turn, Jonah was swallowed by a great fish solely for not obeying him and having fear and even hate towards the great city.
The prophet Moses was fearful on several occasions, especially one where at a place called Massah. In this place, Moses was afraid of the people who were out of the water, and desiring Moses to do something to quench their thirst. So Moses was worried they would stone him to death. Even David feared for his life, knowing Saul would continue to try and kill him.
My friends, these are just some examples, having fear in our lives gives us no accomplishment. Although I am not speaking about Godly fear, it's more of what 'Not being dead to sin is.' Dead to sin! What a concept; it gives us much to think about. We hear about how sin separates us from God and how it destroyed large cities like Sodom and Gomorrah, but what does that have anything to do with John and Betty's example, or even Jonah and Moses? Well, let me finish the story of John and Betty.
So a decade passed by when they both had experienced their relationship with each other was starting to fade. Their focus was not on each other but more on what they desired. 'To be like they once were.' In this was the fabulous clothes stored on hangers in the closet collecting dust. The fabric was starting to become fragile and worn looking. One day, John had a heart attack, and Betty was in great despair and did not know what to do. While betty was in the waiting room of the Emergency Department, she looked around to see very few people there and she so happened to look up and saw Rev. Billy Graham on the television. She suddenly remember how God helped and saved her before. Now, I probably don't have to continue as I'm sure you may know the story from here, but they ultimately turned their life around, and John and Betty both fully recovered from the heart attack and their obsession that took their lives over.
You see, what is to be a passion, for one thing, isn't so good for another. Having a passion for Christ as did his disciples is very good things, and actually necessity. Still, a passion for or even a desire for something not so Godly, well, it can become disastrous! It depends on factors like whats your motivation, state of your heart with God and several others. Look at Gideon!
Fear wasn't the problem for John and Betty, the obsession wasn't the problem, picking out the wrong clothes wasn't the problem, my friends John and Betty lived in darkness and did NOT see the light! John and Bettys example isn’t the same as Jonah and Moses, you and me! But John and Betty did not recognize their sin, and we can’t categorize SIN. Putting their sin to death to become alive to God was the first step into a new path. Notice it took the Journey, not just the destination that saved them. The Journey taught them what was needed from the standpoint of sin, whereas what they were missing that gave them everlasting hope in the end. Our Journey starts from the day we are born to the day we die.
They had a fear of what they didn't have, but their sin blinded them to all hope that was readily available to them. Matthew 10 tells us not to fear things, "…two sparrows sold for a coin, and not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. The very hairs on your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." These are words of hope that God gives us. My friends this is one verse out of thousands that God gives us promises.
Oh Jonah, well, he was in that fishes belly three days and prayed to God, and he instructed the fish to throw him onto the banks of the sea. Jonah continued the Journey to Ninevah that he didn't want to do in the first place, and guess what, all of Ninevah was saved because of what Jonah finally did.
Moses was fearful of his life as was David, but God instructed Moses to speak to the rock and water came forth and satisfied the thirst of the people, and then Moses' life, including his reputation was saved!
Now, David, he was a courageous man. In the psalms, you witness many locations where he was very fearful, but, on the other hand, was very righteously inspired.
Let me read to you Psalm 40! Here is what we see when David wrote when he was in great despair and how God Saved Him! (READ PSALM 40:1-3)
Not too long ago, me and my wife had a deep dark secret that literally surfaced. It was unexpected to us and quite embarrassing. We had a salesman from Kerby vacuum that came to our home and gave a great demonstration. In doing so, he vacuumed a small location on the carpet that he literally sucked up some very nasty debre. Now what makes this sinister, we vacuum that same location regularly, paid Stanley steamer to come in, and still a lot of gunk came out of it.
Notice it took the right type of equipment to come along and remove this stuff from our carpet. We walked on it daily, we did regular maintenance to help keep our home clean, but still it was there. The humor of it all; the salesman deliberately showed us several layers of this stuff and put it on a piece of cloth and proudly displayed it like a price. OH MY GOODNESS! What can I say? He was a GOOD salesman!
My friends, Jesus, is our cure to sin. I want you to remember as you move through lifes Journey, you need to ‘remember’ what the Lord has done for you! Remember who Jesus is. Remember who you are in Jesus and Jesus in you. To move forward in this journey, we need to put our sin to death and stay alive to God in everything we do. We need to seek out the deep dark areas of our lives, bring to the surface the gunk that prevents us from keeping God alive in us. You see, just as John and Betty didn’t realize they had a problem until they faced it with the realization that it existed, and Betty remembered her past help that God gave her. What helped them to come to that realization was Johns heart attack, but it could have been something else. Whos to say in their years before, God delivered to them several occasions to recognized their sinful ways, but they chose to ignore them.
Could their problem be avoided? Absolutely! Could our carpet been cleaner than it was, you bet! Even our regular exercise of a Godly nature isn’t always enough. We have to keep and maintain the ‘Relationship’ with the Father, our Saviour, our Redeemer! Today we do celebrate our earthy fathers, don’t we, but our heavenly Father is our necessity, our Saviour that is our ever-present hope in our daily walk.
In closing my friends, I challenge you, examine yourselves daily. Pray always for God to give you strength, courage, and willingness to deal with the dark sins in our lives. Each of us, including myself, has this responsibility. We each need, we yearn for an everlasting Love that surpasses all understanding that only God can give.
Now some of you may be thinking right now, how much time you spend on your devotions, your prayer life, your regular attendance to church, that is all great things to do in this journey. But I want to remind you its NOT just the destination; it’s the journey that gives us the fulfillment that only God can provide. Psalms 86 tell us a cry for help “have mercy on me, give your strength to your servant…show me a sign for good…because you Lord have helped me and comforted me.”
See here the psalmist is inquiring for God to give him what he needs to be ever-present and comforted in Gods presence. This is what we should be doing, as well.
Let me re-emphasize to you Matthew 6 “For the death that he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life that he lives, he lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, let us pray…