It's Gut Check Time
Matthew 7:24,25
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”
Within the past 72 hours, a number of members of our congregation have tested positive for or have potentially been exposed to the coronavirus. People have tested positive here and there, some more seriously than others, but as far as I’m aware, we’ve surpassed our greatest number of concurrent cases. On top of that, we are the cusp of breaking 4,000 active cases in Collin County for the first time since August.
It’s gut check time.
Are you ready if we have to cancel in-person Christmas services? Or will that be the final surge that knocks your house down?
Are you prepared if you catch COVID? Or will the sun scorch your faith?
Are you holding on by a thread for January 1, 2021? What if one final blow comes before midnight? What if it comes while you are still recovering from 2020?
The time to be prepared was yesterday. But Jesus’ promise still stands even now. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Jesus’ words are the rock. They have stood whether you have listened to them or not. They still stand. Even now, Jesus calls you to jump into his lifeboat. Let him carry you back to solid ground on his time-tested promises.
There his Holy Spirit will plant you firmly through the power of his gospel. Against believers, death’s win-percentage is 0.00. Completely defeated. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).
Disease may or may not prevent us from celebrating Christ’s birth, but not even Satan could stop Christ from coming to crush his head. “The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who ‘will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.’ And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne” (Revelation 12:4,5).
The calendar will change from 2020 to 2021. But a new year means new attacks on your faith, perhaps greater than those this year. Regardless of novel viruses, novel temptations, or novel trials, there is nothing new about Christ. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Christ’s strength, his forgiveness, his love for you are so all-encompassing, there’s no need for novelty, no need for improvement.
Whatever new scheme the devil devises, Christ has already defeated the devil (Hebrews 2:14). Whatever the world throws at you, Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33). Whatever your heart may say, let God be true and even your own heart a liar (Romans 3:4).
It’s gut check time. Renew your strength through God's Word. Come and receive his Supper where he feeds you the forgiveness of your sins and the strengthening of your faith. Standing firm on the rock, you will weather the storm until the clouds part and the sunshine of eternity beams forth.