Monday, March 21, 2011
1 Peter 1:3, 6 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ... In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
THERE IS A LIMIT
One summer I and a few friends worked in a printing factory. We loaded paper into stitching machines and stacked bundle after bundle of finished magazines. We worked twelve hour shifts back-to-back for as many consecutive days as we legally could (somewhere around 14 days). I got through the long days of monotonous work by singing favorite songs to myself on the loud factory floor.
One day, my friend Mike told me that when the day seemed especially long to him, he'd get through it with this thought: "They've only got me here for twelve hours." At first I thought, "That doesn't help! Twelve hours is a long time!" Mike's point was this: there was a limit. This wasn't forever, but just for a time. Soon enough we'd step out of the windowless cavern of the work day into the soothing sunshine and fresh air of a Wisconsin summer.
When the burdens of life weigh heavily on your soul, maybe Mike's thought can bring relief. This world only has you for a lifetime. Now, that may not seem like much of a pick-me-up. But remember the point: there is a limit. And sooner than you think, we'll step out of the shadowy cavern of this life into the God-shine and fresh air of heaven.
Just as Mike and I weren't slaves in that factory, you and I aren't slaves to this sinful world. Through the loving sacrifice of Christ our sins have been forgiven. Through the tireless work of the Holy Spirit, we know our Creator is also our Savior. This world may have us for a little while, but through Christ, our great God has claimed us for eternity.
