June 24-July 1, 2002
As we will be gone until July 4 after Thursday of this week this thought will cover the intervening time.
It is simply that what I see as the main emphasis of Jesus is not what will happen to you if you don’t make a commitment to him but what will happen to you if you do. It is true that Jesus warned of dire consequences of ignoring his call to believe in him but his major emphasis was on helping people understand that God wants all persons to be in fellowship with him. Primal passages such as "God is Love, God is Spirit, they that worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth, For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life, and I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly," all point to uplift and fulfillment in life now as well as to a secure future. So it is that if one can commit to as much of Jesus as we understand with as much of ourselves as we can give we are on the road to finding out what Jesus’ abundant life is all about. While we may be perplexed and bewildered about our uncertain future both in this life and the next we do know that it’s a lot more enjoyable to live in harmony with neighbor, to share love with one another, to set and achieve worthy goals, to achieve peace within one’s self.
These things tell us something about what abundant living is all about. Commitment to the person and principle’s of Jesus is not magic but it sometimes immediately takes a person from chaos to peace and always puts one on the road to spiritual fulfillment and the abundant life Jesus said he came to give. This has nothing to do with material abundance although freeing us from the demons of uncertainty and worry often free us to use the best that is in us and that leads to the ability to provide better for those close to us and to do our part in making inroads on the needs of our world.
Our goal at First Baptist is to simply help us all see, honored members and uncertain seekers, that making and deepening that commitment to Jesus as Lord, is the necessary step.
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
201 Oak St.
Mauston, WI 53948-1333 608-8474555
Past Weeks Thoughts: