Last Saturday, we ate at a diner. Just inside the door was the dessert case: berry-topped cheesecake, lemon pie piled high with meringue, gooey chocolate cake, plate-sized cookies. “Maybe I should skip the meal and go straight to dessert,” I told my husband.
Isaiah 55:2 (NIV)
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
The Bible, “the richest of fare” — cheesecake and chocolate for your soul!
The Bible – when do you study it?
When I was a child, I ate at my mother’s table. The food was prepared by her hands. Likewise, my early Bible lessons came second-hand — from my parents, in Sunday School, at church.
God offers first-hand food for your soul.
Isaiah 55:2-3 (MSG)
Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best,
fill yourself with only the finest.
Pay attention, come close now,
listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.
2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 (VOICE)
Jesus the Lord will appear from heaven dealing out perfect justice to anyone who doesn’t know God and anyone who disobeys the good news of our Lord Jesus . . . They’ll be banished from the Lord’s presence and glorious power.
“Perfect justice” — when all is said and done, no one will say that their trial was unfair.
“Don’t say that a loving God is going to send you to hell – He’s not. The thing that’s going to send you to hell is that you’re a sinner and you don’t want to admit it.”
J. Vernon McGee (1904-1988)
Pastor, teacher, theologian, radio minister
(Dr. McGee’s vision: The whole Word to the whole world)
How can a loving God send anyone to Hell?
Surely you’ve heard the question. Your answer?
In his book on Heaven, Randy Alcorn offers a memorable response:
“He so much wants us not to go to Hell that he paid a horrible price on the cross so that we wouldn’t have to.”
John 3:16 (NIV)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
On Good Friday, I tend to picture myself with the cluster of faithful followers gathered at foot of the cross. Truth be told, Stuart Townend’s version is more like it:
“Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.”
How Deep the Father’s Love for Us, 1995
Forgive me, Lord.
These words are so familiar, we hear them on autopilot:
Luke 22:20 (NIV)
After the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
Imagine hearing Jesus say them. For the first time. Ever.
And imagine the next day, seeing the blood drip from his wounds.
I sometimes wonder how Jesus made it through this last week of his earthly life–the last meal together, betrayed by a friend, a kangaroo-court of lies, pain and ever-greater pain. Did he keep one ear tuned to the words his Father spoke at his baptism?
Matthew 3:17 (ESV)
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
May your words, dear Father, be my strength.
Just like Jesus.
