A message for Jade Goody

It is a certain sort of privilege that the nation is able to follow Jade's struggle with cancer and watch as she gets married, builds up a trust fund for her sons, not taking for granted any of her days on this earth.

Jade said, after her wedding, that she was ready to go to heaven now.

I hope she is placing her trust in Jesus, because the Bible says that is the only way we can be sure of going to heaven. He is the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to God except through Him (John 14:6).

Jade, I pray for you that you will know God's peace and forgiveness, and hand your life over to Him.

Your story teaches us all not to take a moment of our life for granted.

Image

Two articles in the papers this week caught my attention: one was about Cerrie Burnell, the CBeebies presenter with no right forearm; the other was about Gail Trimble, the cleverest contestant on University Challenge. Both articles highlighted that these two women have been the object of the most outrageous comments, simply because their 'image' isn't what people want to see.

Parents complained about Burnell saying their children would be 'scared' by her, rather than seeing it as an opportunity to explain disability. Trimble was offered a makeover and photo shoot from 'Nuts' and was tarnished a 'horse-toothed snob' just because she didn't want to expose herself to a men's magazine. Both these incidents highlight how shallow our society is. Not only do we see a perfect, ideal image of women and men portrayed in films, billboard posters and all kinds of media, we see less than ideal people torn to shreds in the same public medium.

It is so easy to judge people on their appearance. It's a great thing that God doesn't- He judges on the heart (1 Sam 16:7). So often we become obsessed with how we look, as a means of winning love and attention from others as well as success in our profession. But we can't 'win' love from God. He gives His love as a gift of grace- it's not something anyone can earn.

As Christians, we need to find our assurance in this, and stop worrying about the way we look. It's more important to cultivate love and kindness than to spend our time cultivating our image. (See 1 Peter 3:3-4) Let's remember Jesus: He was born in an obscure village, never wrote a book or became President, but His impact upon the world is unequalled and unparalleled. If we truly want to make an impact upon our society, we need to stand out by the way we live, not the way we look.

"I'll keep holding on"

Simply Red's song 'Holding Back the Years' has a seemingly positive chorus- 'I'll keep holding on'- but in the context of the whole song, it is more melancholy, as the mood of the song suggests:

Holding back the years,
Thinking of the fear I've had for so long.
When somebody hears,
Listen to the fear that's gone.
...

Chance for me to escape from all I know.
Holding back the tears.
There's nothing here has grown.
I've wasted all my tears,
Wasted all those years.
Nothing had the chance to be good,

Nothing ever could, yeah.
I'll keep holding on.'

The song has a poignant message of fear, sadness and waste, but a stoical resilience despite these things. Reading the first five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, and it's easy to apply these same sentiments to God's relationship with Israel. He led them out of slavery in Egypt, to the borders of the promised land, and they did not have enough faith to claim it. So He led them around the wilderness for forty years, during which they repeatedly rebelled against Him. Moses' speeches in Deuteronomy show a nation poised to enter the promised land, finally, and he exhorts them to love and obey God so that they live and prosper.

But the message Deuteronomy gives is not of a rather helpless God, who stands in the background moping and regretting all those 'wasted' years. Rather, the God of the Pentateuch is a God of power, might and control. God hardened Pharoah's heart so that He could display magnificent signs and wonders to release Israel from Egypt. God wanted to test and humble Israel in the desert for forty years so that His mighty provision (manna from heaven, water from the rock) could be displayed, and they would become totally dependent on Him.

It was, indeed, a tragedy that the people so easily forgot God's goodness to them. It was a terrible thing that they slipped into idolatry and ended up being scattered and sent into exile. But none of this took God by surprise. He already had planned to send His Son Jesus, to live the perfect life that none of us, not even the Israelites who saw the plagues and the Red Sea parted and manna from heaven, could live. Jesus always obeyed God, and only His death on the cross can pay for our sins.

You see, none of God's punishments upon Israel (in the wilderness or the exile) signified Him giving up on them. He does 'keep holding on' to His people, remaining faithful to His promises. But the message of the Old Testament is that WE need to keep holding on to God, and stay faithful and obedient to Him- otherwise we'll find ourselves in a spiritual wasteland.