Time moves
at the same speed whether it is the lazy, hazy days of summer or the frantic
days leading up to Christmas. Yet in our schedules we find things can get all
in chaos as we find too much to do in too little time to do it. Throw in a bout
with nasal and lung congestion, and you can get behind in everything!
With all
this going on, there is a reassurance for believers. One thing never changes regardless
of our circumstance.
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ is the
same yesterday, today, and forever.
This verse
has been a source of reassurance for Christians for generations. The world may
change. Evil may appear victorious. Hope has been destroyed. Then we are
reminded the appearance of the world does not indicate the eternal condition.
The King of kings, the Lord of lords does not change.
The New
Testament reflects the changes some of its most important personages had to face.
Peter had
his eyes opened to what God was doing to bring in the Gentiles into the
Kingdom.
Act
10:9 The next day, as they were on their way and coming near Joppa, Peter went
up on the roof of the house about noon in order to pray.
Act
10:10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat; while the food was being
prepared, he had a vision.
Act
10:11 He saw heaven opened and something coming down that looked like a large
sheet being lowered by its four corners to the earth.
Act
10:12 In it were all kinds of animals, reptiles, and wild birds.
Act
10:13 A voice said to him, "Get up, Peter; kill and eat!"
Act
10:14 But Peter said, "Certainly not, Lord! I have never eaten anything
ritually unclean or defiled."
Act
10:15 The voice spoke to him again, "Do not consider anything unclean that
God has declared clean."
Paul had a
Damascus road experience.
Act
9:3 As Saul was coming near the city of Damascus, suddenly a light from the sky
flashed around him.
Act
9:4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul!
Why do you persecute me?"
Act
9:5 "Who are you, Lord?" he asked. "I am Jesus, whom you
persecute," the voice said.
Act
9:6 "But get up and go into the city, where you will be told what you must
do."
The Apostle
Peter needed to remind his readers there was a time the relationship they had
with God was broken. They could not benefit from his promises. Now, because of
the action of Christ, change had come.
1Pe 2:10 At one time you were not God's people, but now you are his
people; at one time you did not know God's mercy, but now you have received his
mercy.
Paul calls
all who would be faithful to Christ to recognize the change that must take
place in their lives.
Rom 12:1 So then, my friends, because of God's great
mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God,
dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you
should offer.
Rom 12:2 Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but
let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will
be able to know the will of God---what is good and is pleasing to him and is
perfect.
In this
season of giving and semi-controlled chaos, Jesus represents a rock of
stability. The Church must address the needs of the world in different ways,
but the One who is the heart of the message does not change.
