HEBREWS - Something SUPER!

Today is Super Bowl Sunday.

Today the New York Giants will be pitted against the New England Patriots in an epic pigskin battle. I don't care so much who's going to win the game.

But yes, I will be watching the game. (After I go to church, of course!)

I am a football fan.

But I've got to tell you, all the *hoopla* that surrounds the game nowadays is crazy. There's so much pre-game hype that the game itself has almost become an afterthought – anticlimactic in comparison to all the "festivities" of the week before.

Goodness!

The Super Bowl is bigger-than-life…or is it?

I can vividly remember an interview with Tom Brady (quarterback for the Patriots) that appeared on the TV show, "60 Minutes" – the link for that interview is here. At the time, he had just turned 30, was earning millions of dollars, and had already won three Super Bowl rings. And yet, something was still missing.

He seemed perplexed when asked what that "something" was.

He answered, "I wish I knew."

How sad.

I am reminded of this verse: "And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?" (Matthew 16:26)

These are the thoughts rambling around in my head on this Super Bowl Sunday.

And it's rather wonder-full that today's "Bible Pick 'Ems" provides the perfect answer to Tom Brady's feeling that there has to something else – something more – to life:

"Now may the God of peace – who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood – may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen." (Hebrews 13:20-21)

These verses sum up the true meaning of life.

For one thing, they focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus.

THIS is the moment – the climax – the culmination of history!

And it occurred with no hype, no hoopla. The world wasn't watching, there weren't any commercials, and no one was handing out merchandise. No tickets were offered at exorbitant costs, and most people didn't stop their lives to sit and watch it take place.

But…it did happen.

And it DID change the world.

In these verses we can see three very significant results of God's work through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus.

One, God Himself begins a work within us. He starts an inner transformation that lasts our whole lives. We are turned into new creatures that become increasingly more and more like Jesus. God begins to change us into the kind of people who will please Him.

And second, God Himself equips us to do the kind of work that will please Him. I love that! God doesn't expect us to enter into the game of life without first being outfitted with what we need to play the game. To that end, we have been given the Holy Spirit to come alongside us, to empower and strengthen us, to give us both the desire and the will to obey.

Finally, God Himself begins to produce fruit in our lives. On our own, we can do nothing. But because of HIS work in and through us, GOD can accomplish big things. And He does. Look what He did with some of those otherwise *ordinary* people in the Bible! He takes our stories, and molds and shapes and weaves them for His glory.

He transforms – He equips – He produces.

It is all about Him, not us.

I would argue that the *something missing* from Mr. Brady's life – and from most people's lives – is actually Someone. The One and only, the Maker and Sustainer of Life, the Ultimate Reason behind everything – God.

And the *something more* that we all long for is a relationship with God. An intimate, personal, meaningful relationship.

God Himself made that possible through His Son – the Great Shepherd of the sheep –(don't you just LOVE that title??)

Oh yes, I want to do every good thing that is pleasing to Him.

I want to bring Him glory forever and ever.

But, we all have to start at His feet – those broken and bloodied feet at the cross. That's where life begins.

There must be something *more than this…*

Whatever that "THIS" is in a person's life – whether it's fame, fortune, or power – there IS something more. There is Someone bigger than life itself.

If Tom Brady wins his fourth Super Bowl today, then congratulations. But I have to wonder if he's feeling any more fulfilled than he did a few years ago. Or does he still feel empty inside?

I hope he finds an answer.

I pray he finds The Answer.

How has God fulfilled your innermost longings for *something more*?

Linked today with Peggy at SOAKING ON SONDAY

"When in doubt, search God out!"

JOB - Hope Lives

HOPE.

Can we really live life without it?

I love the movie, "The Shawshank Redemption" – such a great story, and it has one of my favorite quotes:

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."

The word hope can be both a noun (thing) and a verb (action word). The dictionary defines it this way:

Hope (noun) – desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment; expectation of fulfillment or success; someone or something on which hopes are centered

Hope (verb) - to desire with expectation of obtainment; to expect with confidence; to trust

Today's "Bible Pick 'Ems" is a resounding statement of hope:

"But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!" (Job 19:25-27)

Yes, the statement comes from Job. And it is remarkable in several ways. I would love to share with you the things I learned while studying this passage.

What did Job's original readers (and Job himself, for that matter) believe about life after death?

Well, when the book was written, Israel did not have a well-developed doctrine of the resurrection. Job became one of the first people to talk about the resurrection of the body. Later readers of the book based their views on the Old Testament. Writers in the OT described the realm of the dead as a place beneath the earth's surface to which people descend.

In the OT, the afterlife is generally regarded as a gloomy, hopeless place of no return.

However, there were occasional hints of deliverance from the grave. And it is these intimations that gave Job the hope that death might relieve him of his troubles, and that a redeemer might justify him even after death.

This is remarkable faith!

This stirring affirmation of Job's confidence comes right at the *heart* of the book –smack dab in the middle of his terrible suffering, his unmitigated pain, his endless trials.

He sees a Redeemer – (with a capital "R"!!)

In ancient Israel a redeemer was a family member who bought a slave's way to freedom or who took care of a widow. In other words, the redeemer volunteered to take responsibility for someone else.

Anyone out there remember Blue Chip Stamps? We would save those stamps, stick them in a book, and then go to a store and redeem them for merchandise. The stamps bought us something else in return.

This passage, of course, foreshadows Jesus. Those of us on this side of the cross, know that He is the Resurrection and the Life. He is our Redeemer, who traded His righteousness for our sin.

But Job!

Without knowledge, without proof, without any reason to believe in the goodness of God – still he trusted that God would rescue him. And that even if he died, God's justice would triumph – even if it took a miracle of resurrection to accomplish this.

Oh, what faith that man had!

So…how about me, how about you?

Are we exhibiting this kind of faith in our lives? Remember, Job never knew about the conference between Satan and God – he never knew the "reason" for his suffering. How are we doing when we don't understand? When we're in the midst of struggles, and pain, and trials? When we are discouraged and despairing almost beyond belief? Are we willing to trust God in spite of unanswered questions?

I'll speak for me. I have moments of strong warrior, moments of cowering coward.

Oh Lord, I want to live by this faith, this confident faith – faith in what I KNOW is true. I have met the Messiah – He is my Savior, He is my Redeemer. He is the Resurrection and the Life.

He is my hope – the best hope – my only hope – and though He died, yet HE LIVES!

And I know that someday I will see Him face to face…

… I am overwhelmed at the thought!

How are you living in the hope of Jesus?

(I'm linked today with Charlotte at Spiritual Sundays, and Peggy at Soaking On SONday. And please feel free to visit me during the week at my other blog, Sharon Sharing God!)

"When in doubt, search God out!"