Pastor’s Blog

Time for a Change?

The gift of God comes in the form of an assignment to the human race – “… that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live … that each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil (hard work).” The devoted Christians who commit their lives to Christ will appreciate that this assignment falls within God’s timing and His will to make “everything beautiful”, as Jim Winter comments: “The beauty comes in recognizing and acknowledging the place and purpose of every person, thing, or event in God’s overall plan.”[1]  Nevertheless, people cannot “fathom”, that is, they are unable to comprehend or understand “what God has done from the beginning to end”. The work of “recognizing and acknowledging” are by faith in Christ alone because even though God has created “eternity in the human heart”, that is “eternity” as infinite time or duration without beginning or end – people cannot understand the gift of eternal existence with God as contrasted with the mortal life. In theology, it refers to “the timeless state into which the soul passes at a person's death” (see dictionary.com). The human heart and mind continuously wrestle with thoughts on the truths or realities of life. We are given the ability to investigate the truths or realities of life but we cannot understand the mystery of God’s divine providence without the help of the Holy Spirit.

Receiving Christ is a great gift of God as we receive forgiveness of our sins through salvation in Christ Jesus and we also receive the Holy Spirit. When we are in Christ, we receive the peace of God by the work of the Holy Spirit even though we may not understand the full extent of God’ work. Through God’s grace, we can find satisfaction in our labor on earth - in recognizing the delights of our God-given abilities and in yielding satisfaction in services during our earthly lives. Without God, every pleasure and good works seem to be a matter of consuming time on earth, a meaningless fulfillment of duties that end with our life cycles.

The gift of God comes in the form of an assignment to the human race – we will not lose sense of this gift and purpose if we realize that the fruit of our labor is a gift from Him. Therefore, may we seek to change direction for a better life journey through 2021. This is how we can do this: “¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. (2^nd Corinthians 13:14)

Pastor Susan