How to fix your greatest problem (Eph 2)

What is your big problem in your life right now? Perhaps it's money, given the recent financial climate of the credit crunch. Perhaps it's your job, or your relationship, or a long-term illness.

We live in a world where there are lots of problems. People everywhere are suffering, whether it's being a civilian in Georgia attacked by Russian troops, or a patient on the cancer ward. Many may look at the title of my blog 'Treasuring Christ' and think how irrelevant it is to their lives. But all the problems that we experience here on earth are symptoms of an even bigger problem...


The bad news
Every single person on earth has a debilitating condition. It makes you a slave, and it makes you unable to live a life of complete satisfaction and joy. It's called 'sin'.

Ephesians 2 opens with the verse 'As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins'. What does it mean?

Well, a 'sin' or a 'transgression' is something that offends God. Such as... Ignoring Him. Rejecting Him. Deciding to live life your own way, without Him. Thinking He's nice, but not worth getting to know too well. Not worth giving up any time for, and not worth giving up certain aspects of your lifestyle for either.
You see, when we think of sin, we often think of murder, theft... And yes those things are sins. But they are outworkings of inner distortion and corruption. Sin is not just outward actions, but it is evil thoughts too. That's why no one can honestly stand up and say they have never sinned.

So what is the effect of sin? Death. Physically, all humans must die. Our mortality is the result of original sin in Eden (see Gen 3). Spiritually, sin cuts us off from God. He is holy and pure, and therefore a huge chasm lies between us and Him. We are spiritually dead before God, and there's nothing we can do about it.

You see, what the world calls freedom- choosing YOUR way to live- is in fact slavery to our own desires, and bondage (imprisonment) to sin and the Devil. What the world defines as a good life, the Bible tells us straight as it really is: being an object of God's wrath (3).

That is our greatest problem, whoever we are, whatever we've done. We're all sinners, and we're all separated from God for ever. Unless...

The good news
Unless it is possible to made alive again...
Unless the chasm can be crossed...
Unless there is a way for us to access God...
And there is.

'But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions— it is by grace you have been saved.' (4-5)

'you were separate from Christ... without hope and without God in the world. [But now Christ] has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility... through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.' (12, 14, 18)

We were dead- unable to move, unable to do anything to help ourselves. But God in pure grace, gave us life and forgiveness in Jesus. We did not deserve it; God did not have to do it, but He did- because of His great love for us. He sent Jesus to die on the cross, and in His body He took the punishment that should have been ours. He was a substitute, taking our place, so that if we choose to trust in Him, we don't need to be burdened with our sin anymore. We can nail our sin to His cross, and be freed from its power over us. We can receive God's forgiveness, and know Him personally, because Christ has made it possible for us to access Him. We have been rescued from slavery, saved from destruction, and shown mercy instead of righteous judgement- if we believe and trust in Jesus.

If someone rescued you from drowning, you'd probably respond very well to them! You'd be grateful and possibly even love them. Now imagine the rescuer was someone you knew you'd wronged. That's like us and God. That's why Paul emphasises the 'incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus' (7). This grace is completely unique! We have been 'raised' up with Christ and seated in the heavenly realms with Him (6)- there's no way we could ever earn or deserve that honour.

That's why this blog is called 'Treasuring Christ'. Jesus has achieved for us what we could never achieve for ourselves. He has given us amazing privileges, above and beyond what we deserve. Are you treasuring Him? Or are you tempted to think that He is irrelevant to your busy daily life?

Perhaps in our thinking we need to widen our perspective, to try to comprehend how BIG God is and how small, puny and weak we are. If His grace is incomparably huge, so is our sinfulness and our capacity to completely reject God and live life our own way. We shall love Jesus more if we appreciate what it means for Him to be 'our peace', destroying the barrier of our sinfulness, our inability to follow God's law. That is why Paul describes Jesus as 'abolishing in His flesh the law' (15)- He fulfilled the law's requirements so that we don't have to. And 'through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit' (18). In our sinful state, we can't access God. But through Jesus' purity, we can. God has made us part of His household (19) and given us His Holy Spirit (22)- blessings which are only possible through Jesus. We need to open our eyes to 'the incomparable riches of his grace' (7), instead of focusing on our problems.

Why does obedience matter? (Titus 2-3)

"Jonny," Elizabeth said in a warning tone, "please stop that."

Her three-year-old looked up but continued to bang his plastic Spiderman toy against the back of her car seat.

"Why?"

Elizabeth sighed in frustration.

"Just... because!"

We've probably all had some experience of the wilful defiance of toddlers. And I range from feeling profound sympathy for the mother with the raging, shrieking child on the shop floor, to feeling a little annoyed myself that she doesn't just give in and take the child away so the poor shop assistant won't have to restock a whole shelf again.

But how much are we, as grown adults, like toddlers when it comes to obeying God? Do we shake our fists in wilful defiance, like Jonny, because we perceive His commands to be like Elizabeth's: arbitrary and stemming from a spirit that's easily annoyed?

Well Paul's letter to Titus says a lot to change our view.

'For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age' (11-12).

A true love for Jesus stems from understanding His grace towards us. And He is GRACIOUS! He's not an irritable guy in the sky who imposes frustrating restrictions on us. He DIED to SAVE us and give us FREEDOM from sin! Whenever we shake our fist at God and continue to do whatever we feel like doing, we merely confirm our own slavery to sin. Without God, we are unable to choose not to sin. And the reality is that sin is UGLY. It brings death and destruction, not the glamorous lifestyle that the media portrays as so desirable. It brings a profound emptiness, which is really loneliness, because we are separated from God our Father. We were made to be in a relationship with Him.

Jesus enables us to have that relationship, and His sinless life and death pays the price for all our rebellious living. We are not saved by obedience. Why, then, is it important? Well, a key proof of whether we've really understood God's grace is in our response to it. If we've genuinely understood that we were a slave to a sin, and Jesus set us free, then why would we choose to go back to it? Our eyes have been opened to see our ugly passions for what they really are. God's grace teaches us to say 'no' to them.

Secondly, if we really love Jesus, we will seek to imitate Him and obey His commands. You cannot really love someone if you disregard what they say. So obedience in response to grace is not trying to win our salvation, but expressing our love for Jesus and faith that what He tells us to do is right.

Thirdly, Jesus was self-controlled, upright and godly- so that's our aim too. We should be 'eager to do what is good' (14) because Jesus 'gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own.' (14) We love Jesus because He redeemed us- why would we want to do wicked things? It's illogical, we are His very own- we belong to Him, so real appreciation of our status will be proved by how we act.

It isn't easy, though. Naturally we are 'foolish, disobedience, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.' (3) But we love Jesus because He saved us from that through His mercy (5). And through Jesus we receive the Holy Spirit (6), who gives us the strength (if we pray and depend on Him) to fight sin.

We are heirs of eternal life (7) and have an amazing future with Jesus to look forward to. But how ashamed will we be if we continue to live lives of disobedience to Him? True love for Him understands His holiness and the way He has made us holy, and shows itself in our obedience to Him.

How can I find spiritual fulfilment? (Eph 1)

I found this slightly strange picture on Flickr, entitled 'Yoga for Geeks @ Penguin Day- Seattle'. Having recently returned from a visit to this city, where I was very blessed to meet a great bunch of Christians at Maple Leaf Evangelical Church, and at John Brewer's Mars Hill community group, I found this picture very revealing. The Christians I met (and my atheist friend, who I was staying with) all informed me that Seattle is famous for being very liberal- politically and religiously. Whilst there are (as I happily discovered) some great truth-teaching churches in this city, there is much opposition to Christianity. Yet this Yoga picture perfectly illustrates the fact that people are still searching for spiritual fulfilment. They may have rejected Christianity, but, unlike Dawkins, they have not rejected the concept of spirituality. The modern popularity of yoga and Buddhism in the West reflects our desire for the spiritual on our own terms. We are prepared to give up an hour of our week for a yoga class, to make us feel better about ourselves, but no extremist religion here please!

The Bible speaks in such a fresh and relevant way into our spiritually searching culture. This chapter in Ephesians basically says that there is one way to be spiritually fulfilled: in Jesus Christ.

Paul declares that God has blessed us with 'every spiritual blessing in Christ' (3). EVERY spiritual blessing- not just one or two. As Christians we are complete in Jesus. As non-Christians we can never be spiritually complete.

It is important to note that in this passage, true spirituality is not about meditating for long hours, or cranking up a list of good charity works, or praying facedown for a certain amount of time. If God has blessed us with 'every spiritual blessing in Christ', then there is no higher realm of spiritual experience to attain, but to know Him. There is no hierarchy of holiness- we are all the same to God in Christ, for we all have HIS status of being 'holy and blameless' (4). Every Christian was 'predestined to be adopted' as a child of God 'through Jesus Christ' (5)- and we are blessed with an equal status before God because of Jesus' perfection. Every Christian's sins are COMPLETELY forgiven and redeemed in Jesus (7). This is an amazing privilege, but it is one which Christians have thankfully received, and it is available to those who are not yet Christians too.

So there is one level of spiritual fulfilment: knowing Jesus. But within this, there are definitely different degrees of 'oneness' with Him. My husband and I have recently been reading 'Every Man's Marriage' by Stephen Arterburn & Fred Stoeker. The book suggests that 'oneness' is the goal of marriage, and it happens on two levels. On the one hand, at your wedding, you are declared one with your spouse. But on the other hand, real marital unity takes a lot of time and effort over the years you have together.

When you come to believe in Jesus and give your heart to Him, deciding to treasure Him above all other things in this universe, you are 'united with Christ' (Phil 2:1). But over the course of your life, this involves growing in faith and love of Him. Paul prays this for the Ephesians- that they may 'know Him better' (17)- for knowing Him better means loving Him more. We need to pray that God will open our minds and hearts to know 'the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe' (18-19).

This is given to us through Jesus! He is the means, or the channel, through whom God has blessed us. And what blessings! A heavenly inheritance- a mansion in eternity, living in God's perfect community.

And our love for Jesus grows as we see Him exalted, 'far above all rule and authority' (21) with everything 'under His feet' (22). The mighty Jesus cares for US. Knowing that brings spiritual fulfilment.

Why is it important to love Jesus more? (Col 2)

Ever felt taken for granted? Like when the first light-headed months of romance are over, and your boyfriend stops buying you flowers?

We all need to keep our relationships going (whether romantic or just friendship), because we know from experience that as soon as we stop bothering to phone someone up, or do something special for them, that the relationship will suffer. As people, we are constantly moving and changing, and if we don't make the effort to counteract this, our relationships will soon drift apart.

'A successful marriage is an edifice that must be rebuilt every day' -Andre Maurois.

This quote speaks truth! When things start going wrong in a relationship, it's often not because anything is wrong with the people involved, just that they have stopped communicating effectively.

Why should it be any different with Jesus?

He is perfect, He is faithful... but we are imperfect and faithless. We easily drift away from Him, being distracted by other things. It is one thing to come to know Jesus as your Saviour. It is quite another to keep on growing in love for Him and staying faithful to Him all your days. That's the test of true faith- it's not about conversion, it's about finishing the race still wearing the banner!

In Colossians 2, Paul says that 'just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness' (6-7). When you first come to know and love Jesus, this should not become a static or detached emotion, or a remote part of your life. You must CONTINUE to live in Him, growing in faith and love for Him, and growing in thankfulness as you grow in understanding what He has done for you.

'See to it that no-one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ' (8). It is very easy to get a distorted view of Jesus from the messages and opinions that the world gives. If we don't continue to read the Bible and pray and know Jesus for ourselves, wrong ideas can easily get a foothold in our thinking, such as 'Jesus would never condemn anyone', or 'It's not that important that He rose from the dead' or subtle teachings that we can earn our own salvation by being good. But the gospels show a Jesus who is passionate and truthful, uncompromising in telling men that if they do not accept Him they will be condemned (Jn 3:18). The New Testament writers emphasise that if Christ is not risen, then our faith is futile and we are fools (1 Cor 15). And any teaching that says we can earn favour in God's sight through our own endeavours undermines the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us as a nice but pointless gesture.

'You have been given fulness in Christ' (10) It's all in Him! Our sinful nature was cut off (circumcised) through His death, and we were raised with Him through faith to a new life (11-12). We were dead in sins (13)- there was no way we could please God ourselves- but God made us alive with Christ, forgiving us all our sins (13). The OT law, which condemns all for no one can completely obey it, was nailed to the cross of Jesus, the One who DID completely obey it (14). God silenced the claim of justice against us, all through His Son's willing sacrifice. That helps us love Jesus more, to know that the voice in court demanding our death penalty, has been silenced and satisfied for ever if we appeal to Jesus.

Jesus triumphed over all demonic powers on the cross (15)- we too can triumph over hell by clinging to Him.

Jesus the Hero -1 Peter 2

Who is your hero? And why?

It's an interesting question. Ask a child, and they'll probably think of at least three examples (okay so some of their examples will probably be comic book characters). Ask an adult, and you're more likely to run into problems. You see, as we grow up, people let us down. We learn not to idolise others, because we realise (the hard way) that they are human and make mistakes. Sure, there are some fantastic inspirational people out there, but in the grind of daily life at the office, there are slim pickings for heroic models.

That's why it's so awesome reading the Bible and getting to know Jesus better. The more you read about Him, the more you have to respect, love... and worship Him. Not even His enemies could accuse Him of sin (see John 8). And the Bible is pretty blunt about people who sin, telling us all about David's mistakes with Bathsheba for just one example.

Jesus stood out as being different, and this chapter in 1 Peter really highlights these differences, and show us why Jesus is a true hero.

He is infinitely worthy, and yet suffered rejection.

Have you seen Batman: The Dark Knight? Batman takes the blame for some crimes he did not commit, in order to preserve the people's hope in their hero (who is not Batman). He is turned into an enemy of the people, when really he is donning his suit, jumping off buildings and facing angry rotweilers to save those people of Gotham.

Now Jesus is INFINITELY GREATER than Batman. He's divine, and He never makes mistakes. But I'm drawing a parallel to emphasise the situation. We've all heard the story before: Jesus comes and is crucified. The impact gets lost. This passage reminds us that Jesus is PRECIOUS! He is 'chosen by God and precious to Him' (4); He is the 'chosen and precious cornerstone' (6). And this precious One suffered for US to be saved:
'He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might de to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.' (24)

Jesus is the most precious thing to cling to in this life. He is the means by which we are God's people, because He is the means by which we receive mercy (10). By Christ, we can leave darkness and enter light (9).

If we're ever going to value Jesus for His true, heroic worth, we need to focus on Him: His life, death, resurrection and all they achieve for us. Jesus is to be our great example to whom we can turn and imitate in all situations (21).

One final comment on the Batman analogy: the real tragedy of the film is that there are no heroes. The one the people honour (I'm trying not to spoil the story) turns into an anti-hero, Batman struggles with his human limitations, and the closest thing that comes to hope is the fact that the population make some surprisingly noble decisions. But look at verse 6: 'the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame'. Isn't it awesome, that Jesus will never let you down? He will never break a promise, and He has promised to give eternal life to all who come to Him. He is our true hero.

Why we should love Jesus -1 Peter 1

We, as God's people, have been 'chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father... for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood' (2). We have been chosen to be forgiven, by Jesus Christ's perfect offering and precious blood. The key for loving Jesus more has to be found in understanding more our sinful depravity, His holiness, and the enormity of what happened on the cross for our redemption. We have been redeemed 'with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect' (19). A lamb willingly slaughtered for our salvation.

The second key to loving Jesus more in this chapter is found in the resurrection. God has 'given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade' (3-4). The risen Jesus gives us hope, certain hope, of eternal life and an amazing future in heaven. When Jesus returns those who trust in Him will have praise, glory and honour for their love for Him (7). And that puts us now into a state of 'inexpressible and glorious joy' (8), for we are receiving salvation (9) and eagerly anticipate the 'grace to be given... when Jesus Christ is revealed' (13). The triumph of the resurrection helps us to love Jesus more as we focus on our eternal home and the final victory over Satan, the day when all trials will end.

Who is Jesus? -Hebrews 1

Like John in his gospel, the writer of Hebrews opens his work with the awesome, earth-shattering truth that Jesus is God's revelation of Himself to us: 'In the past God spoke... through the prophets... but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son' (1-2). Sending Jesus to us was not like lazily scrawling on a piece of paper and sticking into a bottle, then casting it out to sea. Jesus came at exactly the right time, to exactly the right place, and He was a divine delegate! The writer describes Him as 'heir of all things' and says God made the universe through Him (2). He is 'the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word' (3). He is God and what He says, goes in the universe. So that God sent Him to us is a very big deal!

But that's not all. Let's think about why God sent Him. The writer mentions Him providing purification for sins (3). He died for us on the cross as a perfect sacrifice, so we could be purified in God's sight through faith in Him. Jesus did what we could never do. He 'loved righteousness and hated wickedness' (9). he never did anything wrong. And in pure grace, He died- taking the punishment that's rightfully ours.

But Jesus didn't stay on the cross. He rose again, ascended into heaven and 'sat down at the right hand' of God (3). Angels worship Him and are His servants (6-7); He is eternal and His 'years will never end' (12). We can love Jesus more as we look forward to seeing Him in all the glory of heaven, and worship Him as our risen Saviour today.

Who is Jesus? -John 1

At the start of his gospel, John wants to make it crystal clear to us who Jesus Christ is. Why? Because it's the key to knowing Him and loving Him. And it stops us from dismissing Him as a man, eccentric or unusual as He may be.

For Jesus, John claims, was no mere man, but the Word, who was with God and who was God through all eternity (1-2). Jesus created the universe with God the Father (3); He is the source of life (4), and He humbled Himself to come to the earth He created, and suffered rejection there (10-11).

'Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God' (12). Why did Jesus, the mighty Creator of the universe, bother to come down to earth? To make it possible for YOU to become a child of God. It's not our natural status- we are children of sin. But Jesus was prepared to endure rejection by some, in order to give life to others who would accept Him.

What a cost it was, for the glory of the Son of God to be transformed and hidden in human flesh (14). And He didn't come down for a sinister purpose- to 'catch us out'- but offering grace and truth (14). Jesus came to make God known to us (18). That's so incredible, showing such amazing love and compassion, that it provokes us to stop, look and love Jesus. If you were in His position, would YOU have come to earth to save one like yourself? Ugly with sinful selfish thoughts and behaviour? Think long and hard. The answer is: 'probably not'.

Final Destination (Rev 21)

At the close of the Bible, this chapter is the ultimate climax of creation, the goal we are all working towards- the day when we will finally -and gloriously- be with Jesus forever.

The descending city of Jerusalem is real, but also metaphorical for the people of God. That means that we are the bride of Christ (cf Ephesians 5:25-32)- we will be united in intimacy with Him forever:
'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.' (3-4)

It is a picture of stunning intimacy with the living God- a real relationship of love. And this is possible through God's grace to forgive us, and His efforts to reach us through Christ.

Jesus says 'I am making everything new!' (5) and then 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.' (6) Jesus thus declares His creative power, His sovereign authority, His eternal nature, and His offer of life to those who come to Him. This offer was given in John 4:14, as Jesus told the Samaritan woman that 'whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.' What an amazing offer! Our response should be like the Samaritan woman's- astonishment, humility and worship. And most of all: love. Love is shown in her eagerness to tell others; love is the right response to Jesus' deep knowledge of our sinful hearts.

We need sometimes to remind ourselves of Jesus' tenderness- offering life and tear-wiping. If we persevere and 'overcome', this is our inheritance! Jesus' judgement when it falls will be terrible: 'the fiery lake of burning sulphur' (8) But He graciously offers us an alternative eternity completely different in character, if we love and trust Him. As we look forward to that eternity, may we love Him more each day that brings us closer to it.

The Jesus Who Knows and Loves Us (Rev 2)

The repeated refrain of all Jesus' words to the 7 churches is this: 'I know'. Jesus sees everything- nothing is hidden from His view. And more specifically, Jesus sees how we treat Him and how we respond to Him. He commends those who persevere believing in Him, who hate wickedness, who endure suffering for His Name, who are faithful to the end (2, 9-10). To those people, He offers life (7, 10). But His firm rebuke is for those who have 'forsaken' their 'first love' (4).

He's not talking about broken relationships and marriages falling apart. He's talking about Him and US. He is meant to be our first love- the highest in our hearts. That kind of intimacy may seem incredible, but it's true- that's the relationship God wants with us. The title of this blog is 'Treasuring Christ'- because the Bible makes it clear that we are to do that- to love Jesus and grow in love for Him over our lives.

The danger many of us face having been Christians for a while, is to lose our love for Jesus. We go through the motions of attending church, of getting our godly appearance right, but somewhere along the line we get too wrapped up in the politics of church life. And the fire in our soul, the flame of love for Christ slowly dwindles and wanes.

How can we fight that? We need to remember that Jesus is real, He is watching over us and He is with us. His words of encouragement to the church in Smyrna are an encouragement to us too- He died and came to life again, therefore He can handle our problems! (8) He knows our circumstances exactly, and He will act for our good in all situations, even through suffering.

Waiting for Jesus' Return (Rev 1)

Loving Jesus will be so easy in heaven. We'll be with Him forever, rejoicing in our salvation, constantly reminded of His amazing love and grace. But on earth it's hard. We struggle along with various problems that come our way- bad health, difficult relationships, personal failures. And we struggle to understand the reality of heaven and eternity. This can have a devastating effect on how important we place Jesus in our lives, and how much we love Him.

Firstly, since we have little concept of what hell is really like (we often overlook or forget Jesus' teachings that it is a place of fire, torture and eternal suffering in separation from God), we lose a right sense of the enormity of what God has saved us FROM. And since we have little concept of heaven (often distracted by THIS world), we lose any sense of the enormity of what God has saved us FOR.

Revelation gives us a fantastic reminder. A difficult book of prophecy and visions, two things are clear:
1. God's judgement is righteous but terrifying
2. God's salvation is amazing

In Chapter 1 John gives us a prologue (1-8) which kicks the book off with a great reminder of why we should love Jesus:
1. He is amazing. He is the first born from the dead (5)- our risen Saviour!
2. He loves us, and He showed us that by shedding His blood to free us from our sins (5), enabling us to be part of God's kingdom and serve Him (6).
3. He's coming again in glory. 'Every eye will see Him' (7). He will be the ultimate, the only authority, and those who have rejected HIm on earth will 'mourn', whilst those who love Him will rejoice.

Then John relates His vision of Jesus, which again inspires our love for Him:
1. He is majestic- wearing a long robe and a golden sash (13)
2. He is pure- head and hair 'white like wool, as white as snow' (14)
3. He is all-seeing, all-knowing- His eyes are like blazing fire, suggesting His judgment, which He is able to make because of His knowledge (14)
4. He is mighty- His voice is like the 'sound of rushing waters' (15)
5. He is holy and awesome- face 'like the shining sun in all its brilliance' (16)
6. He offers peace and salvation. He tells John not to be afraid- He holds the keys of death and Hades (17-18)
7. He is the Lord of life. 'I am the living One: I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!' (18)

As Christians we need to constantly re-inspire ourselves by returning again and again to the awesome presentation of Jesus Christ in the Bible. That's what will keep our minds in the right focus as we go through busy, distracting days.

Psalm 62-63: Everything You Need

You can tell a lot about a person from the music they listen to. Just look at the success of Desert Island Discs- hundreds of celebrities and writers appear on this long-running Radio 4 show to share their top 8 albums with the world. Perhaps we find it comforting that they take solace in the same symphonies as we do; that they sing in the shower to the same Beatles tracks. Anthony Grayling, famous philosopher and writer, is this week's guest. His chosen track list is suitably intellectual, with only one non-classical piece (which, hearteningly, is by The Kinks). And there is a sense that we judge people by the music they listen to.

Music is beautiful in its variety, and sometimes is able to express the emotions of our very souls. In this sense, it does reveal a piece of our heart. So do all our other hobbies and pursuits. Whatever we choose to invest money and time in will inevitably reflect our priorities. As a Christian, it is a real struggle not to fall into the 'Desert Island Disc' trap, of seeking solace from today's busy world in beautiful music... relationships... shopping... entertainment. None of these things are bad in essence, but as a Christian, my real delight and solace should be in God.

'My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him.' -Psalm 62:1

How many Christians can identify with me in saying, I got part b but not part a of that verse! It's one thing to receive salvation from God; quite another to find rest in Him alone. I'm more likely to find rest in God AND my marriage, or my family, or my job... The list goes on.

And yet, these two phrases are logically linked. If you've found salvation in God, and you cannot find it anywhere else, why look anywhere else for satisfaction? The Psalmist David points out that God is a Rock; He is always there and always faithful, and so he says:
'Trust in Him at all times, O people, pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.' (Ps 62:8)

Times of pressure and trouble should turn us towards God and increase our dependence on Him, not push us away into our desert island sanctuary, whatever shape or form that may take. It's all too easy to set your heart on riches (Ps 62:10), but we need to avoid depending on material things for happiness and satisfaction. They simply draw us away from the only source of full and complete satisfaction: God. He is 'strong' and 'loving' (Ps 62:11), and His character is worth delighting in and seeking.

'Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You...
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods...
My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.' -Psalm 63:3, 5, 8)