Live Boldly in God's Promise
The other day my friend sent a text message that included a screen shot of a review of an airline company. The performance rating indicated that this particular airline was on-time 33% of the time, late 60% of the time and canceled 10% of the time. I joked in my reply to my friend that those statistics sound like my family. We are on-time about 33% of the time, late 60% of the time and have to cancel 10%. Whether these numbers are referring to an airline company or a family they aren’t reassuring. This friend was clearly not going to choose this airline. If this were in fact how my family functioned, our relationships would suffer. It’s just one of many examples that when we encounter someone or something that is unreliable it creates distance and skepticism. Conversely, when we find someone or something we can trust it leads to confidence and devotion.
Throughout the Spring our focus was to be reminded of the promises of God. We traced these promises found in the early pages of Genesis and in the beginning of the church as it’s described in the book of Acts. We explored the promises established in creation as well as God’s promise of the Holy Spirit and the Church. Over and over again we see the constant reminder that our God is faithful and His promises are sure. He does not grow weary or falter, but is a rock upon which we can build our lives. Consequently, our lives should not be marked with distance and skepticism, but confidence and devotion.
Consider this passage in Joshua 21:45. Once the Israelites have inherited the promised land, chapter 21 discusses how this land is divided among the Levites. It’s a detailed description that ultimately accentuates the abundance of the land and its overwhelming sufficiency for God’s people. With this abundance and sufficiency having been stated, it leads to this concluding verse: “Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.” What a statement. Not one promise failed. Every one was fulfilled. This is the sort of God we serve.
So, as you move throughout the day and into your week, I pray that your life will be one that exudes confidence and devotion. That the promises of God’s grace, presence, love, hope and faithfulness would overwhelm your heart. That you would live boldly because you know our God’s promises are sure. Moreover, I pray that is who we can continue to strive to be as a church. That we would look to the future and the calling He has placed on our lives and we would move boldly and confidently. That our church would dream big and trust that God’s power is at work. Let’s live boldly today, church. For we know our God is faithful. - Jerimiah Smith, Pastor