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Open the Bible UK Daily

Colin Smith

3 minute daily Bible reflections from Open the Bible UK, authored by Colin Smith, read by Sue McLeish.

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Today · 2 min
Our Calling Is to More Than Good Intentions
Being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves. 1 Thessalonians 2:8 It is easy to get into a routine of living on good intentions. You intend to be a better Christian one day. You expect to get right with God one day. You intend to share the gospel with a friend one day. But somehow that day never comes. 1 Thessalonians confronts us with the urgency of our commission from Jesus Christ. Our lives are passing. Christ is coming. We do not have forever to fulfil our calling. All around us are people who have never seen the glory of Christ. And the Bible says, “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12). God could have sent an angel to each person with the good news. Instead, He chose to use “vessels of clay”—people like us—to proclaim Christ to a dying world. God has placed people around you who do not know Him, and you are called to share His love with them. Can we rise above the desire for comfort and approval to fulfil our calling as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ? Is it possible for us to love Jesus Christ more than we love comfort in this culture that constantly promotes and pampers self? That’s hard. And if it is hard for one Christian, is it possible for a whole church to overcome the impulse that seeks our own comfort and the approval of others? Thankfully, the church in Thessalonica shows us that it can happen. The simple answer is “faith.” Have you told someone the good news about Jesus lately? Why not today?
Yesterday · 2 min
Don’t Be Driven by Approval
We speak, not to please man… We never came with words of flattery… Nor did we seek glory from people. 1 Thessalonians 2:4, 5, 6 There was a second accusation against Paul—that he was motivated by a desire for the approval of others. You can see this from his answer in verses 4-6. If Paul’s definition of success had been that everybody should think well of him, he could not have been faithful as an apostle. This issue of looking for praise, acceptance, and love from others runs deep in all of us. We all want others to think well of us. Faith will be impossible for you if you allow yourself to be motivated by the approval of others. You cannot be an effective parent if you are driven by the need for approval from your children. You cannot give effective leadership in the church if you are driven by the need to be liked. A faithful church cannot be led by men who put their finger in the wind and ask, “What does everybody want?” This might create a culture of comfort, but it will not advance the gospel. This applies to everyone in the church, not just leaders. If we need to be liked by everybody, we will never do much for the gospel. The problem for some of the brothers in Thessalonica was that they were not ready for the antagonism of the world towards the gospel. If you are going to be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, you have to overcome two impulses that run deep in every person: You have to overcome the desire for comfort, and you have to overcome the desire for approval. Which of these two desires is stronger in you right now? Ask God to help you overcome it.
Saturday · 3 min
Don’t Be Driven by Comfort
For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed… though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. 1 Thessalonians 2:5, 6 The first accusation against Paul by the church in Thessalonica was that he was using the people to his own advantage. In Paul’s response, he is talking about money. As an apostle, he could have called on the Thessalonians to support him financially. But he didn’t do that. Paul got a job working during the day, and he gave himself to ministry in the evenings. That made for some long days: “You remember, brothers, our labour and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God” (2:9). The issue here goes deeper than money. Very few people are driven purely by money. The real motivation is not money itself, but the comfort that it brings. If comfort had been Paul’s criteria for success, he would have abandoned the first missionary journey when they were thrown into prison in Philippi. The gospel would never have come to Thessalonica, and you wouldn’t be reading this today. How would you know if you are motivated by comfort? You would always be asking: “What am I getting out of this? Am I enjoying this ministry? Do I like the other people?” When you ask these kinds of questions, you are working with a false definition of success: Success = comfort. If this has become your measure of success, what would repentance look like? It means ditching these questions and embracing a new definition of success. What matters is not your comfort, but the advance of the gospel through your life and ministry. Loving while bearing pain is a reflection of Jesus, and that’s success. In order to be a faithful disciple of Jesus, you have to overcome the desire for comfort. What are some new questions you could start asking?
Friday · 2 min
A Gospel Definition of Success
You remember, brothers, our labour and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 1 Thessalonians 2:9 The Apostle Paul’s definition of success is very different than the world’s definition. His definition of success is: to advance the gospel and to live under the approval of God. We had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict (2:2). Success is to advance the gospel. We speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts (2:4). Success is to live under the approval of God. Western postmodern culture places great emphasis on the way that each person is uniquely wired. Follow your heart! You do you! The Word of God does not major on what is uniquely you, but on what is commonly us. All of us (if we are human beings) are created by God. All of us are descended from Adam. All of us share the effects of his sin. And all of us depend on Christ for our righteousness. All of us (if we are Christians) have the Spirit of God living within us. We all struggle with the flesh. And we all suffer. All of us are being conformed to the image of Christ. All of us are entrusted with the gospel. And all of us are called to lay down our lives in the service of others. What are some ways you might be tempted to emphasise your own unique design over our common calling in Christ?
Thursday · 2 min
What Is Your Definition of Success?
Not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere. 1 Thessalonians 1:8 The church in Thessalonica was a bridgehead for the gospel. It was the most exciting church in the New Testament, and yet some of the believers there didn’t know it. Some thought Paul’s ministry was a failure. That’s clear from how Paul answers them: Our coming to you was not in vain. (2:1) Obviously, some people were suggesting that it was. Our appeal does not spring from error. (2:3) Some thought that it did. Our appeal does not spring from… impurity or any attempt to deceive. (2:3) Some felt that Paul was trying to manipulate them. Sadly, some in the church, who were surrounded by a great work of God, did not have the eyes to see it. All they could see were problems. We know that Paul’s accusers were Christians, because he calls them “brothers.” How could they have thought that Paul’s ministry was a failure? Because they had a false definition of success. They defined success as “everything being comfortable and everyone being happy.” If that is your standard, you too will likely feel that your life, your family, and your church are a failure. A successful ministry does not mean a comfortable ministry. And a successful life, in God’s sight, is not the same as a carefree life. Plenty of God’s servants in the Bible were seen by the world as failures. But God’s view of success is different than the world’s. What is your definition of success? How do you know if your life is a success?
Wednesday · 2 min
How Are We to Speak About Jesus?
Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. 1 Thessalonians 1:5 Deep conviction does not fit well with our culture today. The prevailing spirit is one of uncertainty. We have more questions than answers. The person who speaks with certainty is quickly accused of being arrogant. None of us want to be thought of as proud, so it has become fashionable to reshape the gospel in terms of our questions and our searching. Notice how far this is from the spirit of the New Testament: “Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” The weight of Paul’s message came across in the conviction with which he spoke. People communicate in different styles, but whatever your style, the way you speak about the gospel has to fit the scale of the message. Think about a man making a marriage proposal. He decides to leave a voicemail: “Hi there, just wanted you to know that I love you very much. And I wanted to ask you if you would marry me. Get back to me when you have time.” That wouldn’t be very appropriate, now, would it? This man knows that what he is proposing will cost him everything. What he is asking will cost her everything. We must communicate the gospel in a way that is appropriate to the message. The gospel should not be presented like a high-pressure sales pitch, or like a free piece of candy, but with power, with the Holy Spirit’s help, and with deep conviction. Think about the people you talk to—children, grandchildren, colleagues, neighbours. What would they conclude about the gospel from the way that you speak about Jesus Christ?
Tuesday · 2 min
Don’t Marginalise the Gospel with Good Things
You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 The church exists to proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God, that through The church exists to proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God, that through His death He bore the wrath of God, and that our risen King is coming to take His people into the presence of God. These things are so central to the message of Christianity, that… If we could show everybody how to navigate life, answer all human problems, mend all marriages, and heal all wounds, but we did not proclaim Christ, we would not have fulfilled our commission. If we could restore morality to the nation, cleanse Hollywood, and sanctify social media, but we did not proclaim Christ, we would not have completed our work. If we could provide meaningful relationships and personal fulfilment for everyone, but we did not proclaim Christ, we would not have fulfilled our calling. The health of a church and the effectiveness of a ministry cannot be judged by numbers, or programmes, or relationships, or commitments, but rather by the degree to which people have placed their confidence in Jesus Christ and found Him to be sufficient. That’s the message. The gospel exalts Jesus Christ, and we can count on the Holy Spirit to honour this gospel with His presence and power. What are you most tempted to place at the centre of Christianity (at the expense of the gospel)? Why?
November 2 · 2 min
The Gospel, Jesus, and the Wrath of God
You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 The gospel message is about a person Paul has come to know and wants to introduce to others. This person is unlike any other person who has ever lived. He is God’s Son from heaven. The gospel is about Him, and what He is able to do for you. Jesus, whom the Father raised from the dead The distinctive declaration of the gospel is: Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead! Because He conquered death, He is uniquely positioned to bring us into life. Christians still die, but through His resurrection your death will not be the end of your life, but an entrance into a better kind of life. Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath Every person is faced with “the wrath to come.” This is God’s judging of every life—punishing every sin, righting every wrong, eradicating all evil, and destroying all sinners in the lake of fire. Without this coming wrath, the gospel makes no sense. What is the point of telling self-confident people that Jesus can give them a wonderful life when their lives are already full? Paul was convinced that there is a “wrath to come” that every person needs to be rescued from. The glory of the gospel is that, at unfathomable cost, Christ, through His death, has borne the wrath of God. And He now offers Himself to you so that you may be rescued from the wrath that, apart from Him, would come upon you. Why is understanding the wrath of God necessary to understanding the gospel?
November 1 · 2 min
Living Like There’s No Tomorrow
You know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 The apostle Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica pulsates with a sense of urgency. He regularly uses words like: exhort, encourage, urge, and admonish. For example: We ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. (4:1) We urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. (5:14) Why does Paul use these words so often? Because we don’t have forever to fulfil the work God has given us to do. Every day the coming of Christ draws nearer. Every day more people pass into eternity. Every day we draw nearer to that great moment ourselves. You are closer today to your unbreakable appointment with Jesus Christ than you were yesterday: “Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow” (Ps. 144:4). Therefore, since God has been so gracious with the time He has allotted to you, cultivate a sense of urgency—with one eye on the cross, and the other on the rapidly approaching Day of the Lord! Pray that God would renew a sense of urgency in the church today. Pray that this urgency would cause us to intentionally point people to the Saviour. Pray that He would teach us to live like there’s no tomorrow.
October 31 · 2 min
Are You Looking to Yourself for Salvation?
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” John 5:39-40 As long as you are looking to yourself for salvation, there is absolutely no hope for you. Salvation does not come from within you. It cannot. The life you need is found in Christ and your hope lies in Him. If you are drawn to Jesus today, then turn away from yourself and look to Him. Look to Him for what you do not have in yourself. Ask Him to be for you what you cannot be in yourself. Do you lack a feeling of love for God? Look to Christ to give you what you do not have. Do you feel that you cannot live this Christian life? Look to Christ to give you the strength you do not have. Don’t sit there looking at yourself. There’s no hope there. You may feel that you are far from God today. You may even wonder why you are reading this. You don’t need to take a long journey to come to Christ. He is able to make you a new man, a new woman, today. The resurrection of Jesus happened in a moment. God just raised Him, and He is able to do that for you today. He is able to give you a new mind, a new heart, new desires, new affections, new power, new direction, and a new spirit. He is able to make you a new creation. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). Where are your eyes focused right now? Are you looking to yourself to generate some hope? Or are you looking to Jesus to give you what you do not have?
October 30 · 2 min
What Do We Need Jesus to Do for Us?
“An hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” John 5:25 The first thing we learn about God in the Bible is that when He speaks, things are created that did not exist before. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Gen. 1:3). Now here is God the Son, God in the flesh, and when He comes to people who are dead in their sins, He says, “Let there be life!” And the dead who hear the voice of the Son of God live. We see this in the Gospels. Jesus speaks to the daughter of Jairus, “Talitha cumi” which means “Little girl, I say to you, arise” (Mark 5:41). And when Jesus speaks, what happens? Life enters into her, and Jesus “told them to give her something to eat” (5:43). Lazarus was in the grave for four days when Jesus said, “Lazarus, come out” (John 11:43). John tells us, “The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth” (John 11:44). The Son of God speaks and physical life is imparted to the dead. When Jesus speaks to those who are dead in their sins, He creates in them a new heart, a new mind, and a new spirit. The Bible calls this the new birth. Those who are dead in their sins hear His voice and live! Jesus is in the business of raising people who are spiritually dead. We see this throughout the Gospels, and He is still doing it today. He gives new life through His Word and by His Spirit. For this reason the Bible says that we are born again of the Word (1 Pet. 1:23), and born again of the Spirit (John 3:6). New life is generated in the person who was dead. If you are a Christian today, is there someone in your life that you could ask Jesus to do this for? And if you are not yet a Christian, do you think it is possible that Jesus could do this for you?
October 29 · 2 min
What Does “Grace” Mean?
By grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:5 Grace is more than God making salvation possible. It’s more than God opening a door and then standing back to see who will come through. By nature nobody would come through. An open door is no different from a closed door to a dead man. Grace means more than God making your salvation possible. Grace is God saving you. Here’s what has happened to you if you are a Christian. “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ”(2:4-5). This is what the Bible says happened. Yes, but how did it happen? Jesus tells us: “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). What did Jesus mean when He spoke about “passing from death to life”? Death is where we all begin. But it need not be where we end. Jesus holds out this marvellous offer: “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me does not come into judgment.” The Son of God has life, and He gives life. New life, eternal life can be yours if you will hear His word and believe the Father who sent Him. How can a person who is spiritually dead hear the word of Jesus and believe? Jesus gives life to people who are spiritually dead. “As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will” (John 5:21). Death is the end of all hope for us, but not for God. The Father raises the dead. And, in the same way, the Son gives life to whom He will. How would you explain God’s grace to someone who has never heard of it?
October 28 · 2 min
What Is Your View of Sin and Salvation?
You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. Ephesians 2:1 Many church people have bought into a view of sin that goes like this: We all mess up in various ways, and nobody is perfect. But God is gracious and kind. If we are sorry and want to do better, God will forgive us and help us, and it was Jesus who made all this possible. If this is the size and the scale of the problem, Jesus will not seem to you like a very great saviour. But the wrong things we do are only the tip of the iceberg. Once you understand the Bible’s doctrine of sin, it will provide the building blocks to understanding the nature of salvation. The Word of God teaches that, by nature, we are sinners from birth. By nature, we are children of wrath. By nature, we can’t change our position. And, by nature, we are completely hopeless. This is the inside story of human life, according to the Bible. Someone might object, “Wait a minute… I have a question. You say that I’m dead in my sins, but I’ve already taken some steps toward God—I repented, I believed, and I’m following Christ. How did I do all that if I was dead in my sins?” Here is the Bible’s answer: When you were dead in your sins, God made you alive with Christ! After Paul lays out the inside story of human life in verses 1 to 3, he says: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us… made us alive together with Christ” (2:4-5). This is what Paul says to all his Christian readers, and this is what he is saying to you, if you’re a believer today. When you think about your own salvation, do you tend to emphasise how good of a person you’ve been or how great of a salvation Jesus earned for you?
October 27 · 2 min
How Does God Describe Our Ability to Do What He Commands?
You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. Ephesians 2:1 We must take the Bible seriously here. It doesn’t say, “You were trapped in your sins.” It says, “You were dead in your sins”! If a man falls into a pit, you can throw him a rope. But if he is dead in the pit, the rope is of no use to him. Imagine a full-size mannequin standing next to you. Let’s call him “Manny.” Manny is a good-looking fellow—tall, dark, and handsome. But there’s no life in him. He’s dead. Now, as a good friend, let’s suppose you were to do your best to influence him:“Manny, you need to live a life that honours God! Follow the Ten Commandments! Love God with all your heart and your neighbour as yourself!” Manny doesn’t seem very responsive, does he? It doesn’t help to yell at Manny, or to try and encourage his self-esteem. Why? Manny can’t do it. He does not have the capacity. He’s dead. Think about what God is saying here, and He is saying it about us: You were dead in your sins. The Bible doesn’t say that the sinner is weak, it says that the sinner is dead. That means he can’t act, he can’t feel, and he can’t move. He is completely unresponsive to God. No matter how hard a problem, a man will feel good about himself if he thinks that he has the ability to get out of it. Tell him he has a sinful nature, and he’ll tell you that he will fight it. Tell him that he is under the wrath of God, and he’ll tell you that he will live a life that wins the admiration of God. But if you tell him that he is dead, there is nothing he can do about his own position. You have insulted him, and he will not accept your doctrine. Yet, this is precisely the teaching of the Bible. Do you think of yourself as… “trapped” in your sins? “Weak” in your sins? “Dead” in your sins? Other? Why?
October 26 · 2 min
Do You Need a Good Reason to Begin a Journey of Faith with Jesus?
Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Ephesians 2:12 There are so many barriers, so many reasons that can keep us from God. There are so many reasons to put off the decision. It is only by God’s grace that any of us come to Him. If you have never come, then begin a journey of faith and repentance with Jesus Christ today. Here are two reasons: First, because of your need. Sin puts all of us in a desperate position before God. “We… were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph. 2:3). This is the position you are in if you have not yet placed your faith in Jesus Christ. How will you endure the wrath of God? Second, because of the extent of God’s great love. “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor. 5:19). “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). In the gospel, God reaches out to you to invite you to receive all that could be yours in Jesus Christ. How can you resist a love like this? Where else do you think you are going to receive a love like this? Is there a barrier to making a decision about Jesus that is standing in your way? Which of the two reasons above is most helpful/encouraging to you? Ask God to help you remove all the barriers.
October 25 · 2 min
Is It Really Possible to Know That God Loves You?
Note then the kindness and the severity of God. Romans 11:22 No generation has been so often told that God loves us, and no generation has struggled more to experience God’s love. One reason for this is that our ideas about God’s love have become sentimental. We have failed to take God’s wrath seriously, and losing touch with God’s wrath, we’ve lost touch with His love. When you grasp this truth of the Divine wrath, you will begin to see the extent of the Divine love. Your eyes will be opened to what was happening at the cross, and how this was an outpouring of God’s love for you. The Divine wrath shows you what you were saved from, and it tells you what it took to save you. When you see the Divine wrath poured out on the Divine person at the cross—God absorbing the wrath of God—you will know that God loves you. The Son of God endured this to redeem me? That is true love. Grasp this and your soul will begin to sing, “Love so amazing, so divine, deserves my soul, my life, my all.” Maybe you thought that God’s wrath shows how much God hates you. Can you see, through the cross, that it might show how much He loves you? Maybe this truth has caused you to hate God. Could it be that today, through the cross, this truth might bring you to love God?
October 24 · 2 min
Why Did Jesus Come into the World? Why Did He Have to Die? And What Was the Cross All About?
Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. Isaiah 53:5 Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). On the cross, He became the sin bearer: “He himself bore our sins in the body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24). “He… bore our sins” means that Jesus came under all the consequences that sin brings. On the cross, He absorbed the Divine wrath. He entered into all that hell is, so that those who come to Him should never know what it is like. Jesus absorbed the wrath of God for us, so that we could know the love of God through Him. Have you taken this truth seriously? This is a truth that should make us tremble. If it were not for the grace and mercy of God to us, personally, in Jesus Christ, we all would endure a future in which we were against God and God was against us forever, a future in which we have no place for God and God has no place for us. People who reject Jesus will endure the gnawing of an activated conscience in which they see the full extent of their own sin. They will have clear knowledge that there is a God of love and that they could have been reconciled to Him, but now He is beyond their reach because they chose to live without Him. They will live with unending regret and a loathing of self because of their own wretched choices and the miserable consequences. They will experience an ongoing rebellion against God that keeps foaming up from within, from which there is no deliverance. Like the addict who keeps going back to what he knows is destroying his life, apart from Christ we would all spend an eternity in the company of those who are in rebellion against God, with no one to blame but ourselves. Have you considered what Jesus has saved you from?
October 23 · 2 min
Why Is It So Important to Believe the Right Things about God?
We were by nature children of wrath. Ephesians 2:3 This does not mean that if we do some bad things, the wrath of God will come on us. We are children of wrath by nature. That means, by nature, we are absorbed with self and drawn to sin. By nature, we want to be our own gods. By nature, we were under the wrath of God. Some people say, “I cannot believe that if a person doesn’t believe the right things about God, he or she will go to hell.” But John tells us, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). John does not say, “If you reject Jesus, God’s wrath comes on you.” He says, “If you reject Jesus, God’s wrath remains on you.” It’s already there. By nature, we are children of wrath. Your reaction to this teaching about the wrath of God will tell you whether you have really embraced the truth we looked at about our sinful nature. The reason that all people are liable to the wrath of God is that God must destroy sin and sin is in us by nature. The new heaven and the new earth will be the home of righteousness, so sin can never enter there. But sin is in us by nature. That’s the problem. So, by nature, we can never enter. If we were to enter, which we cannot, we would defile the place that God is making. We need to be made holy first, and that is why we desperately need Christ. Can you see today why, apart from Jesus, it would be impossible for anyone to get into heaven?
October 22 · 2 min
Is the World Getting Better?
We… were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Ephesians 2:3 One of the greatest problems with evolutionary theory is that if it were true, the world should be a better place by now. If we are getting better, surely by now, war should have ended, children should be safe, and women should be treated with dignity and respect. Surely by now, we should have achieved world peace, and wise government with freedom and justice for all. Why can’t we ever get there? Every new generation says: “The world shouldn’t be like this!” But if world history tells us anything, it is that sin is a problem for which there is no human solution. Sin is a monster, and our only hope of getting better is for this monster to be completely destroyed. In Psalm 55, David cries: “Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! Attend to me, and answer me… Destroy, O Lord, divide their [the wicked] tongues; for I see violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go around it on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it; ruin is in its midst; oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace (55:1-2, 9-11). Notice where Psalm 55 ends: “But you, O God, will cast them down into the pit of destruction” (55:23). In an evil world, where might is right, this is the psalmist’s only hope. A God who cannot destroy evil, or who does not have the will to do so, is of no help to us. The good news is that David’s prayer will be answered. God will bring the wicked down into the pit of corruption. God will create a new heaven and a new earth where sin will be no more. This is our hope. Without it, there will never be a world with peace and freedom and prosperity and justice and joy for all—never. What are the top three problems in the world today that you would like God’s wrath(judgement) to bring to an end?
October 21 · 2 min
Have You Completely Missed Your Biggest Problem?
We… were by nature children of wrath. Ephesians 2:3 This verse is disturbing, but its meaning is clear—the default position of every human life is that we are under the wrath of God. To help us grasp the importance of this, here is a parable... Imagine a beautiful church with stained-glass windows, hundreds of years old, located in the center of town. Pastor John, a wise, kind, and godly man—the kind of man you can talk to, especially when you know you’re in trouble—has served at this church for over 30 years. One day Ben comes into the church looking for Pastor John. He is troubled and he needs to talk. “How can I help you, Ben?” Ben looks down and mumbles, “Pastor John, how can I be a more generous person? …I don’t have peace about what I’m doing with my money. Maybe I need to give more.” Pastor John senses Ben isn’t getting to the point. “Is there something else you want to tell me?” “I’ve been taking money from other people’s pension funds.” As Pastor John is about to speak, the office door flies open: “Pastor John, Pastor John, there’s a bomb in the basement! You have to get out!” Ben says he wants to be a more generous person. But there’s a bigger problem—he has stolen two million dollars from his company’s pension fund, and he is facing jail time. But the biggest problem is that there is a bomb in the building, and if they don’t get out, all of Pastor’s John’s wisdom and all of Ben’s fear about going to the police will be irrelevant. You may want to become a better person. You may even feel that there is stuff in your life that needs to be sorted out. But towering over these two is a problem of altogether different proportions—we are, by nature, children of wrath. Are you so focused on becoming a better person, or on sorting some things out in your life that you’ve completely missed the biggest problem?

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