When the mighty fall

Today: Ezekiel 25-27

It is always a shocking thing when something or someone you believed to be strong--fails. And fails miserably.

In today's chapters, God talked about various cities and nations that disregarded Him. At the end of the passage, this description of Tyre stood out to me:

"'As you crisscrossed the seas with your products,

you satisfied many peoples.

Your worldwide trade

made earth's kings rich.

And now you're battered to bits by the waves,

sunk to the bottom

of the sea,

And everything you've bought and sold

has sunk to the bottom with you.

Everyone on shore looks on in terror.

The hair of kings stands on end,

their faces drawn and haggard!

The buyers and sellers of the world

throw up their hands:

This horror can't happen!

Oh, this has happened!'"

It's amazing how often we think things are invincible. Whether it's a celebrity, a church leader, a company, a nation--often we put things and people on pedestals they were never meant to stand on. And then we're surprised when they fall.

In this excerpt, Tyre is described as a rich place. And when it sinks, observers are terrified. They think it's horrifying.

Why? It's not like the observers were part of Tyre's demise--they just observed it. Why would it be horrifying to them?

I think part of the answer is because when the things people consider mighty fall, it completely shakes up their thinking and their quicksand-like foundations. The truth? Things and people are not invincible--people make mistakes, things disappear, people die, and things lose value.

That might sound morbid and depressing, but I'm mainly trying to say that you can't put your faith, hope and identity in people or things.

On the other hand, God is invincible, all-powerful, loving and continually faithful. He is mighty. And He never falls. Never.

Tomorrow: Ezekiel 28-30

With a single stroke...

Today: 1 Corinthians 15-16

Do you remember fingerpainting?

I haven't done it in a long time...maybe since Kindergarten...but I remember it was fun! I remember mixing colors...like blue and red to make purple or yellow and red to make orange. What a discovery! With a single stroke of my fingers, a new color could be created. A picture could emerge from little blobs of paint.

I remembered my childhood fingerpainting experiences this week when I read a friend's comments on Facebook about her daughter's response to fall. Her daughter (who is about five years old, I think) wanted to know if God painted the leaves with a paintbrush. The little girl said He is all "mixey" because there is still green from the spring...and expressed a genuine appreciation for His mixey-ness. :)

With single strokes of creativity, God can change the leaves and the sunsets...and with a single stroke of Life through Christ, He can change our lives. Here's what today's passage said:

It was sin that made death so frightening

and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage,

its destructive power.

But now in a single victorious stroke of

Life,

all three—sin, guilt, death—

are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ.

Thank God!
With all this going for us,

my dear, dear friends,

stand your ground.

And don't hold back.

Throw yourselves into the work of the Master,

confident that nothing you do for him

is a waste of time or effort.

What's interesting about God's work in our lives is that we're part of it, too. You and I aren't lifeless globs of paint in the fingers of a Kindergartener. No--we are active participants in the "mixey-ness" of God's creation. He transforms us into something incredible, but we have the ability to throw ourselves into His work, allowing Him shape us into the people He's called us to be.

Your life is better when you let Him wipe out sin, guilt and death...and with just a single stroke of Life, create a masterpiece.

Tomorrow: 2 Corinthians 1-4