Thursday, February 17, 2022
Can anything ever
separate us from Christ’s love? Does it
mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted,
or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As
the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being
slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite
all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever
separate us from God’s love. Neither
death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor
our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from
God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth
below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the
love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39
Apostle Paul was convinced beyond the shadows of
circumstance, that light was not gone, but was just getting started. In the physical realm, the presence of shadows
is only possible if there is light. When
light shines on something, a shadow must be on the other side. This tells us we must look to the light if we
are not to stumble in the darkness of the shadows.
This analogy holds-up in the transfer from physical to
metaphysical. God is light, the essence
of goodness and truth. If we look away
from God, we will be facing the darkness.
Paul declared that no force on earth, or in the heavens, can ever truly
separate us from God, not demons, fears, nor even death. But we can choose to look
away from God, and the result is living in darkness.
In the aftermath of two years’ grappling with COVID-19, and now OMICRON, and the associated darkening realities of life in the not-so-roaring 20’s, with resources reducing in an anemic economy resembling storm clouds, face coverings hiding smiles (if there are any), and social distancing pushing us further away from social fellowship, it is more difficult than ever to imagine there IS light to which we can look.
Just as Darth Vader
(the representative of evil in Star Wars) beckoned his estranged son, Luke Skywalker
(representing naïve humankind) to follow him to the dark side,
the dark times of 2022 would have us cave-in to our lower nature, becoming
children of the shadows.
These are dark times, indeed. But Scripture constantly urges us to keep our
focus on the light of God’s truth, because living in darkness is so much below
what God has planned for us. And that plan
is for His love to have us walk in truth and light, the source of all hope,
filled with glorious, inexpressible joy.[1]
For You Today
Christ declared that
He is the light that came to dispel the darkness. He taught us it would be an inside-job, a
light that dwells within you, so you can reflect His glory. So…look to the light, Christian.
No matter the circumstances, criticisms, or changes that come…turn-away
from the shadows and look to the light of He who will lead
you home to glory.
You chew on that as
you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!
[1] Title and other images: Pixabay.com Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
[1] See 1 Peter 1:8
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