SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONS
By Chris Vidacovich
CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS? 10/16/2011
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the unemployment rate for September 2011 remains at 9.1% which is unchanged from last month’s figure. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was 6.2 million in September. These individuals accounted for 44.6 percent of the unemployed. Can you believe this?
Fortunately, both the Democrats and the Republicans have plans that will get Americans back to work and will jumpstart our economy. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, “Senate Democratic leaders proposed imposing a surtax on people earning at least $1 million a year to pay for President Barack Obama’s jobs plan, an idea immediately rejected by Republicans as lawmakers head for a showdown over how to boost the economy.” But according to the Eric Cantor, the House Republican Whip, House Republicans have offered an economic recovery plan that will create twice the jobs at half the cost for hard working Americans. ” Can you believe any of this?
Even further, if you can’t believe any of that, next year is election year. Already we are listening to the politicians make promises that will turn our country around. The promises are being made to lower the jobless rate, put people back to work, and turn the economy around. Can you believe this?
And that is just a sample. The promises of this world are made and broken every day. We grow cold to the idea that someone could actually keep their word or keep their promises. We have become a nation of skeptics. Can you believe this?
Jesus tells us to "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15). Then when we get there, and we tell people the Good News, they aren’t sure whether or not they can believe it. The best we can do in this world of unbelievable news is to live out the Good News in such a way that people will see it come to life in our lives. When they see us living out the blessings of the spiritual life, they may be so surprised that they will respond, “I don’t believe it!” Yet our very lives prove that the Good News of Jesus Christ really is believable! But can YOU believe this?
Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 , “May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it .” God will keep His promises. He will restore us to His image. He will give us eternal life if we are faithful to Him and to His promises. He will give us a glorified body and a home in heaven. Can you believe this?
Our response is the same as that of Paul’s: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). In Christ, the blessings are already ours! Time after time God reassures us through His Word that He wants to bring more and more blessings into our lives. The promises of this world are unbelievable. We have heard too many lies. The promises of God are believable because it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18). When we trust in the promises of God and live according to the spiritual blessings that He brings into our lives, we KNOW that His promises are true. Can you believe this? You MUST believe God, His Son and His Word!
chrisv@cscoc.com